A cover image of a mom breastfeeding her 3-year-old has tongues wagging.
Just how shocking is it to see a 3-year-old breastfeeding? Well, Time Magazine has found out that there’s plenty of controversy to be had- a recent cover showing mom Jamie Lynn Grumet
breastfeeding her toddler has provoked polarised debate ranging from outrage to charges of exploitative behaviour,
according to The Guardian.
Attachment parenting image fail?The image of Grumet is designed to illustrate the extremes of attachment parenting, which encourages moms to co-sleep and breastfeed their babies well into toddlerhood, and spend as much time them as possible. Attachment parenting is promoted by Bill Sears, co-author of the Baby Book, and it is Sear’s theories which the Time article is designed to investigate.
The problem is, however, that the image is so startling, that advocates for both sides of the
breastfeeding debate are calling it a “cheap shot” which undermines the actual issues.
Twitter frenzyThe headline accompanying the picture reads “Are you mom enough?” which also seems to be getting people’s backs up on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
The breastfeeding debate is one which is getting more and more extreme. In some places it is not just frowned upon, but could get you thrown out of a restaurant or coffee shop. This has provoked breastfeeding advocates into deliberately breastfeeding publicly.
Even if you do support breastfeeding (and
public breastfeeding, too), the image in the cover of the magazine seems to generate an uneasy response. Perhaps it is because the toddler in the picture is standing on a chair, and because of this, seems taller and older.
We’re not quite sure what to think of the image- whether it is a “cheap shot” which weakens the argument pro-
breastfeeding, or merely a publicity stunt.
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What do you think of one of the most controversial magazine covers so far this year?
