Kim Kardashian Suggests Mothers Show Some Modesty

Yesterday afternoon I received an interesting tweet from @KimKardashian "EWW Im at lunch,the woman at the table next 2 me is breast feeding her baby w no coverup then puts baby on the table and changes her diaper"

Apparently later she did a follow up tweet saying: "My sister breastfeeds! It's a natural beautiful thing, there's nothing wrong w it, but she covers herself, not w her boobs exposed."  Thank you for the lesson in modesty, dear Kim.  I will be sure to cover myself whenever nursing in public from now on. 

First of all the irony of the statement is obvious- she posed for Playboy!  How could she be so prudish about a little bit of boob exposed in the act of nursing!  It was funny.  And also very very sad.

I find it disturbing how vicious women can be to one another.  When I had an article published in the Toronto Star on the subject of the censorship of my art from Facebook http://www.thestar.com/living/article/794323--are-these-obscene?bn=1  some of the nastiest attacks in the reader comments were from other women; the worst being the following statement: "As a mother of 2, trust me, others are not interested in seeing your bloated breasts from pregnancy. And another newsflash, they ain't gonna last!"

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 It's unfortunate for Kim that she made a statement like she did, because she is the classic Glass House that shouldn't throw stones.  It would be so easy to attack her, point out her hypocricy, insult her figure... that is partly why I feel sad about her comments.  Let's instead take a step back and see her as a product of her society. This is precisely what is wrong with society's view of breasts today.  Women are taught to see themselves as sexual objects first, with breastfeeding being a secondary function.  There is a de-humanizing quality to this, as women are detached from their own biology, their relationships to others, their needs and desires, and put in a realm of pure asthetics.  Women are not judged for the content of their character, but merely for the quality of their skin.

It's also unfortunate for the many many young women who follow her tweets.  The breastfeeding statistics for young women are depressing already- something like 20% -30% of young women choose to breastfeed.  Imagine how many more might be affected by this post: "EWWW! ...breastfeeding!" and choose not to give their babies the best start to life.  The diservice this statement has made to the breastfeeding advocacy movement is staggering.