"Breast-feeding Moms in Uniform Photos Were Out of Line: Military

[newworldafro]

Breast-feeding moms in uniform photos were out of line: military - NY Daily News

Breast-feeding moms in uniform photos were out of line: military

BY NANCY DILLON / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, June 2, 2012, 12:15 AM


The Washington Air National Guard says two military moms were out of line when they posed in uniform for a breast-feeding photo shoot.

One of the women who helped organize the controversial campaign said she accepts the decision.

"We're wanting to support moms who are breast-feeding. It was never about the military. It's about the women who wear the uniforms," Crystal Scott, founder of the Mom2Mom support group serving the Fairchild Air Force Base, told the Daily News Friday.

"We love our military. We don't want to go against them at all," she said.

The photos in question were meant to promote World Breast-Feeding Week in August, Scott previously said.

They became a viral sensation shortly after they were posted on the website BreastfeedinginCombatBoots.com.

The images depicted the moms from the Air Force Base outside Spokane, Wash., beaming at their gorgeous babies with the shirts of their fatigues hiked up over their breasts during a feeding.

Mom Terran Echegoyen-McCabe smiles proudly in the snaps as she breastfeeds her 10-month-old twin girls simultaneously.

Guard spokesman Capt. Keith Kosik said the photos were a violation of regulations against using the uniform to promote a civilian cause.

He said the moms are not expected to face disciplinary action but that the incident warranted a formal response for educational purposes.

Neither Echegoyen-McCabe nor the other Airwoman in the photos, Christina Luna, was immediately available for comment.

"I have breast-fed in our lobby, in my car, in the park ... and I pump, usually in the locker room," Echegoyen-McCabe told NBC's Today show. "I'm proud to be wearing a uniform while breast-feeding. I'm proud of the photo and I hope it encourages other women to know they can breast-feed whether they're active duty, guard or civilian."

She said there's no specific policy banning breast-feeding in uniform.

"I think it's something that every military mom who is breast-feeding has done," she said. "I think we do need to be able to breast-feed in uniform and be protected."

Robyn Roche-Paull, author of the book "Breastfeeding in Combat Boots" and the associated website, agreed.

She's been pushing for a clear policy since leaving the U.S. Navy 15 years ago after breast-feeding while on active duty.

"I think these photos have become a wonderful catalyst to get the discussion going. It's still a sticky situation for women in the military. The regulations do not say one way or the other what a mother's rights are. You can read them closely and say, 'Well, her uniform blouse is unbuttoned, so that's out of uniform or not very professional,' But that's super nitpicky," Roche-Paull told The News.

"Frankly, having a bottle and a diaper rag on your shoulder is not very professional either. So there need to be regulations about feeding in general, regardless of bottle or breast," she said. "Breast-feeding is nourishing a child. It keeps them healthy and raises their IQ. To equate it to urinating in public or pornography, I can't even wrap my head around that."

.... I wish more women breastfed, so I applaud these ladies....but still cotdamn

Spoiler

Spoiler

may be NSFW

 

[FaTaL]

its like they think chicks in the miltary dont have t*ts or something

i dont get it

thats what tittays are for

 

[Cole Cash]

personally, i dont think it was the right thing to do. however with all the trains being ran on these girls (BDU half on) i really dont give a fukk now that i think back on it.

 

[Dooby]

Man...breastfeeding always gets me

 

[emac]

id say leave it to a 'certain demographic of people' to get offended by breastfeeding...despite that being what breasts are for...but i guess they'd rather have their girls have fake dd titties and a size 3 waist and blon......

 

[Angel On The Rag]

Man...breastfeeding always gets me

 

[Sensitive Blake Griffin]

our society is so weird sexually. I can't turn on the TV without seeing television ads that appeal purely to sexuality yet mothers can't breast feed in the open

FREE THE TITTIES YOU PURITAN fukkS

 

[Wallie]

I don't get why it's such a big deal. Breasts aren't even sex organs, they're meant for breastfeeding. Why should women have to go into hiding just to feed their baby?

 

[infamous212]

I don't get why it's such a big deal. Breasts aren't even sex organs, they're meant for breastfeeding. Why should women have to go into hiding just to feed their baby?

 

[PortCityProphet]

people are ignant man i swear. let them mammas

 

[jadillac]

I already made this thread like 4 days ago.

 

[Reid2Achieve]

Military doesn't really have a problem with breastfeeding, the powers that be just cringes when members take public stands on social issues, because people tend to equate the opinions or actions of one or two people with the entire branch of service or armed forces.

 

[Emperor Sol]

I can see how this can be construed as "out of line" as it looks like they're making a spectacle out of breastfeeding their children.

If there were regulations in place that prohibit the women from doing that (like the spokesman said) and they knew (or should have known) before they joined, there is no debate to be had. They were wrong, period. The military has rules and those rules should be followed.

 

[Da Jungles]

Military doesn't really have a problem with breastfeeding, the powers that be just cringes when members take public stands on social issues, because people tend to equate the opinions or actions of one or two people with the entire branch of service or armed forces.

Exxxxxxxxxxxxxxxactly

I don't even know why this had to be explained.

 

[BlvdBrawler]

Breastfeeding is a problem now? wtf? It's not like these are photos of chicks taking a dump on the flag while in uniform, they're feeding thier kids.

This "pussification" of america, where everything has to be politically correct, is really sickening.