Letter to LiveJournal

[jan_andrea]

Jumping on the bandwagon here, because apparently LJ Abuse has their heads up their asses.

Dear LiveJournal,

I have to add my voice to what seems to be a growing chorus of confused and outraged LJers. I'm a breastfeeding mother of two, and and guessing that no one in your "abuse" committee has been in that position, or they would never conflate breastfeeding a baby with a sexual or obscene practice. Breastfeeding is the most natural way to feed a baby's body and emotional well-being. Breastfed babies grow up to be smarter and, on the whole, happier than their bottle-propped cohorts... which, I suppose, might be a reason you'd want to ban breastfeeding images -- perhaps fewer emo teens means fewer LiveJournal accounts in the future?

I'm kidding, but seriously, you guys need to get a clue. There are a lot of truly horrible default icons out there -- I've seen graphic acts of sex and violence, some drawn, but mostly actual pohotographs -- and honestly, a woman nuturing her child isn't even in the same universe as those images. If you continue in your witch-hunt of default breastfeeding icons, you're going to end up banning a goodly portion of your users who also have paid accounts (after all, we're responsible adults, not unstable emo adolescents), and I'm hoping that if logic (i.e. breastfeeding is in no way obscene) doesn't move you, perhaps financial realities might.

Regards,
Jan Andrea Heirtzler (paid account, expiring 11-2006, and if you continue this, I will certainly not be renewing!)

I have my doubts that it will actually make a difference, but good grief, how stupid can they be?

(Wonder if an Escher print qualifies as obscenity?)

Comments

[poeticdream.livejournal.com]

Livejournal has really gone downhill since Six Apart took over. I mean, there are ads now! And, this whole breastfeeding icon crap is just irrating. My paid status expires in 2007. If it didn't, and if it hasn't been my only journal since 2000, then I would probably leave.

[jan-andrea.livejournal.com]

Huh. I use Firefox with an additional adblock extension, so I haven't seen the ads, but that is obnoxious :P

[mercy-rain.livejournal.com]

Word. I've been a responsible-adult paying customer since 2003 (and I have TWO paid accounts at the moment)...how many of us are they willing to lose revenue from? The ability to make polls and use lots of icons (let's face it, how often do I really rotate them?) isn't worth supporting this asshattery.

[sandramort.livejournal.com]

Love the icon, btw. I need to make one too!

[sandramort.livejournal.com]

Any chance you'd consider writing a more generic letter for those of us too sleep deprived to be coherent?

[lemmings-world.livejournal.com]

Seconded, please.

[jan-andrea.livejournal.com]

ProMom already has one, which is great: http://www.promom.org/3min/3min_livejournal_may06.html

Hooray for Boobies

[clovecigarettes.livejournal.com]

I was talking to a mom in a yarn shop about breastfeeding (she says she's been losing weight by breastfeeding (a good thing after all the pregnancy pounds) and that her baby's never been sick). She said sometimes people totally flip out when she breast feeds publicly (and one time a bunch of Neds were all watching with interest), but no one seems to care when people walk around with see-through shirts. It's as if breasts are suddenly more obscene and indecent when used for their intended and natural purpose -- to feed infants.

Re: Hooray for Boobies

[jan-andrea.livejournal.com]

I've been lucky -- no one's ever dared approach me with negative comments when I breastfed in public, but it may be because they were afraid I'd sit on them or something ;) What's a Ned? But yeah, people are just stupid about breastfeeding -- I think they have a difficult time differentiating between a food breast and a sex breast. (A food breast being one that's offered to a baby, and a sex breast being one they'll likely never see!)

Re: Hooray for Boobies

[clovecigarettes.livejournal.com]

What is a Ned you say?
There's this certain kind of people that only exist in the UK. There's no equivalent in the US and because of that, I'm a bit fascinated by them. In England they are called Chavs, in Scotland, they are called Neds. They wear track suits with white trainers (nice of them to wear a uniform -- makes them easier to spot) and they have short hair which they gel. They hang out in flocks, shouting taunts and sometimes obscenities at people passing by. They are not very clever.
Older Neds are called Jakies (sp?). Girl neds are called Sengas or Nedettes.

This is a very funny and informative webpage about Neds. Be sure to check out "People" and "Gallery of Neds."
http://www.glasgowsurvival.co.uk

Re: Hooray for Boobies

[clovecigarettes.livejournal.com]

How did the breatfeeding icon issue start?

[chloe-child.livejournal.com]

rock on

[jan-andrea.livejournal.com]

Love your icon!

[jan-andrea.livejournal.com]

I haven't the faintest idea where the taboo came from; it's so juvenile, really. I breastfed all over the place with Stephen until he was about 2.5 years, and with Sophie until she was no longer interested in nursing in public (which was at about 18 months -- she preferred to be out and about when we were out), and I was never personally scolded for it. Maybe because I'm tall and broad, and they were worried I would sit on them -- not sure :)

I friended you back :)

[pudgybudgie.livejournal.com]

Has anyone heard back from them?

[jan-andrea.livejournal.com]

I'm about to post their response to me in my journal.