Maggie Gyllenhaal Breastfeeds: Sexists Go Crazy

Some paparazzi took pictures of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal breastfeeding her child in public. Somehow I missed this, when the “scandalous” photos were taken a couple weeks ago. They are posted all over the place at entertainment blogs. I thought I would pick out a few choice comments from sexist pigs for your reading (dis)pleasure.

Here are some comments from A Socialite’s Life

Here’s one from Conrad:

I am sure plenty of women find this beautiful, but thats a beauty that needs to be shared between mother and child in a quiet, discreet location. She had to know 1 million plus ASL readers would be viewing this spectacle. I never had much of an opinion of her, but now I know she’s an animal. It reminds of that childhood question – “what’s grosser than gross…”

Another from What Betheny said:

Gross. I like her, but this picture is gross. There are more private ways to breastfeed your baby in this country. We’re not living in Africa. I can’t stand the self-righteous breastfeeding moms who just show absolutely everything without thinking for one minute that just maybe not everyone is comfortable with seeing their body parts and their child sucking off of them. It’s a personal bond between you and your baby, so make if personal.

Now here is the good news: most people on the thread were supportive (at least the last time I read the comments a week ago).

Then, you have this site, where they put up a not safe for work warning and blurred out her breast (But apparently the pictures in this post are A-OK). Here are a few of the comments (out of 490+).

From eva:

hmmm… imo if you want to breastfeed in public, pump your tits at home, bottle it, and feed them that way.

From combustion8:

shes so ugly… look at that puppy sag.

From Frenchie:

Ewww…not good. She could have covered up a bit with a blanket. I know it’s a natural act but that is pretty tacky. Her tit hanging all over the place is not natural. She should be more conscientious of not offending the general public by being more subtle.

From Rebecca:

Discusting! I’ve seen women do that before but at least they had the decency to cover their breasts. What a freakin peasant! Yes breastfeeding is natural but so is urinating and defecating, does this mean we’ll catch people doing that in public too? This is what I call no self-respect. (Gee where has Rachel heard this one before.)

I couldn’t bare to read through all of the comments. This thread had many breastfeeding defenders even though it wasn’t quite as pro-breastfeeding as the other thread.

The fact that this was covered as a controversy reflects anti-breastfeeding attitudes. A few sites treated it as such, and I found a few that put disclaimers admonishing people to behave. A Hollywood actress is feeding her child in a public place should be a non-issue, and I even hesitated to post this. However, people do need to be reminded that many anti-breastfeeding attitudes are puritanical, sexist, and unhealthy. I think the number of commenters who feel the need to personally attack Gyllenhaal commenting on her appearance, her sexuality, and her morality (or supposed lack there of) is indicative of why breastfeeding is such an important feminist issue.

Shout Out to Jennifer at Black Breastfeeding Blog!

This entry posted in Anti-feminists and their pals, Breastfeeding & Lactivism, Families structures, divorce, etc, Gender and the Body, Media criticism, Popular (and unpopular) culture. Bookmark the permalink. 

26 Responses to Maggie Gyllenhaal Breastfeeds: Sexists Go Crazy

  1. 1
    r@d@r says:

    what century are these people from? what PLANET are these people from??

    i think that people who react to breastfeeding as if it’s something dirty or offensive are sick. i mean seriously damaged. it’s the deep mental pathology inherent in patriarchy i guess, but it never fails to shock me. it probably has something to do with the fact that they weren’t breastfed as babies.

    there are times when i hate this culture so much, and just want to find an island somewhere to move to with my family.

    i like the “we’re not living in africa” comment. racist much? geez……….

  2. 2
    Myca says:

    OH SWEET GOD should this ever be a non issue. What are we, living in the 1800’s now?

    Seriously, it makes me wish I was a woman, and I had a child, and I was lactating, just so I could go breastfeed in public and throw a GIANT fit at anyone who had a problem with it.

    Man oh man, I hope Ms. Gyllenhaal doesn’t let these bastards push her around.

    —Myca

    EDIT:

    i like the “we’re not living in africa” comment. racist much? geez……….

    RIGHT! Rightrightrightright! God, this makes me want to scream.

  3. 3
    pheeno says:

    jesus fuck

  4. 4
    Myca says:

    PLUS, what kind of freakish fucking standard is combustion8 using if he considers Maggie Gyllenhaal ugly?

  5. 5
    karpad says:

    so it seems we’re all on the same page. “Wow, these people are fucking wrong. and PAINFULLY racist.” classist too, (peasant? Who the fuck uses “peasant” as an insult?) but I think the racist probably wasn’t consciously aware of it, while the classist probably was. but they’re still disgusting.

    also, this is one more of those instances of someone being fundamentally unable to see a breast as anything other than a sex organ, which annoys to no end. Because god forbid something physically attached to a woman serve any purpose but being attractive to the man types (seriously, he forbids it, unless the wingers lied to me.)

  6. 6
    Kim (basement variety!) says:

    Breastfeeding Maddox stuck to the boob as I write this in fact, but holy cow what an offensive bit of tripe those comments are as a collective.

    On the other hand:

    Fuck yeah Maggie Gylenhaal, you just became one of my favorite starlets! What an awesome thing for her to do as a public figure. I love her!

  7. 7
    Lina says:

    I blogged about this a few weeks ago here – a lot of blogs had the picture censored with warnings that it was ‘not safe for work’ – a phrase used generally by sex bloggers to warn readers of explicit pictures more often than not.
    The comments you highlight (and indeed highlighted) are offensive enough, but what I find deeply disturbing is the suggestion that it is somehow a sexual act. Eg. “Is this hot or not? I am not sure. She was hot in Secretary right? Hmm… Creepy” and “i’m actually wondering if the kid is feeding or just playin with those tit tays. that child appears to be having WAY to much fun”. I’m sure you saw yourself how many comments there were saying stuff like, “I wish I was that baby” etc. I think possibly this is at the heart of why people find it so damn offensive.
    And comments like these are offensive. And they’re also pretty fucking disturbing.

  8. 8
    orange says:

    Those ASL comments and that other site’s comments are as filthy as garbage, and contain about as much value. Wow, how awful that a woman would, for one second, not consider her breasts dirty and wrong, but show them to anyone as she nourishes her child.

    What a ridiculous, backwards culture we live in.

  9. 9
    Kate L. says:

    This was discussed ad naseuem on my mommy chat sites. THe vast majority said, “YAY! Go Maggie! So nice to see a “star” nursing her child!” But there are always the dissenters who agree with the people in this post (and they are mothers of young infants themselves).

    Also, there are those who say things like, “I’m all for NIP (nursing in public) if that’s what you need to do, but she could have been more discreet. This is part of what gives NIP a bad name.” (there was also some discussion on the incredibly uncomfortable looking latch – OUCH! but that’s neither her nor there). And to an extent I do agree. MOST women I’ve seen NIP (myself included) are not showing quite as much breast as she is here and so when people get their panties in a bunch over NIP, many of us say, “You can’t even see anything – what are you complaining about?!” OTOH, given the fact that we see more boob on the red carpet at any given event than was even shown here, I say, “why should she have to cover up?” No one has ever asked her to do it before. Hell, Rose McGowen (sp?) walked a red carpet basically naked one day (the mesh dress – anyone know what I’m talking about?) and you didn’t have the same controversy.

    For the most part I have to tune these kinds of conversations out. On the plus side, I NIP for about 5 months or so, and never once had to “fight” for my right to do it. On the contrary, the worst I got was a dirty look or so, and many many people smiled once they figured out what I was doing. So, while there are haters out there – and certainly I’ve heard the stories of people getting kicked out of places, thankfully, the laws at the very least support NIP in most states and many attitudes are coming around.

  10. 10
    mythago says:

    “not in Africa”? Because, you know, women in Africa are all savages. Nice, asshole.

    And Kate, I salute your patience with those bozos. It’s not the occasional person who doesn’t wear a full-body tent while NIP who “gives it a bad name”–the morons who whine that it’s OK to flash tit on the red carpet but not when feeding a baby would do so if they’d never, ever seen a woman breastfeed in their lives.

  11. 11
    Sailorman says:

    I personally like the “she’s acting like an animal” stuff.

    Because, you know, she IS.

    And if “Conrad” thought she wasn’t, boy would I like to see the expression on his face when he realizes he’s an animal, too…

  12. 12
    Dreama says:

    So here we have the ultimate dichotomy:

    Maggie Gyllenhaal’s breasts naked in a film for purposes of a sexual scene? YES!

    Maggie Gyllenhaal’s breasts semi-exposed as she uses them to nourish her child? NO!

    I wonder how many of those complainers happily watched (or would watch) Secretary?

  13. 13
    Barbara says:

    Did Maggie Gyllenhal ask to be photographed? Why no. Were the people around her perturbed? Apparently not.

    It’s bad enough when people IRL go out of their way to be offended by females nursing in their midst but I can only think that these people have had their brains vacuumed out when they voice resentment about a female nursing in a photograph that is posted on a website under the category “Celebrity Baby Monitor.” If someone goes out of their way to look for pictures of celebrities and their babies, duh, that’s their problem, not Maggie Gyllenhal’s. I mean how long did they sit and stare at the offending picture before they realized that they were sufficiently offended to look away? And were any of them so offended that they asked to have the photo removed?

    And ouch, at that latch.

  14. 14
    Ampersand says:

    From Debitage:

    One of the central ideas in ecofeminism is the way that a dualism of Culture/Nature is constructed in our culture, and then projected onto all kinds of other forms of difference, so that women, people of color, etc. are seen as less valuable and in need of control by the white male Culture pole.[…]

    The commenters describe Gyllenhaal as an “animal,” “Africa[n],” and a “peasant” — a trifecta of species, race, and class discrimination applied to reinforce a demand that a woman comply with the ideal of the body-free masculine-style self.

    Click through to read the rest…

  15. 15
    batgirl says:

    To give The Superficial some credit (as hilarious as that sounds), the post definitely mocks people who spaz about public breastfeeding: Making fun of her would be like going to a nude beach and making fun of everybody for being naked.

    Additionally, my other celebrity gossip guilty pleasure, Gawker, had an entire post dedicated to the topic of commentors who freak out about the breastfeeding pictures and how those people are assholes. Most celebrity blog comments are completely idiotic anyway, so the idiocy over breastfeeding is not surprising.

  16. 16
    recded says:

    “I wonder how many of those complainers happily watched (or would watch) Secretary?”

    I wonder how many NIP supporters here and elsewhere “happily watched Secretary”.

  17. 17
    Daran says:

    I have a modest proposal. A social rule, if you like, which seems to me to be fair and reasonable in all circumstances:

    Anywhere it’s reasonable to take your baby, there it should be OK for you to feed it, in such a manner as best suits you.

  18. 18
    Kate L. says:

    Daran Writes:

    June 19th, 2007 at 4:30 am
    “I have a modest proposal. A social rule, if you like, which seems to me to be fair and reasonable in all circumstances:

    Anywhere it’s reasonable to take your baby, there it should be OK for you to feed it, in such a manner as best suits you.”

    Actually, this is more than just a social rule. In any state where there is a law allowing NIP, it is worded almost exactly like that – anywhere it’s reasonable for a mom and baby to be, it’s reasonable to feed said baby in whatever means is necessary. Some of the less progressive states add in a little tid bit about “discretion” although most at this point have taken that language out at this point.

    The laws exist. The social support hasn’t made it that far yet. In fact, there’s a woman in Florida suing a restaurant for throwing her out while nursing her infant. http://www.local10.com/news/13503933/detail.html I don’t particularly think a civil suit is in order… if the laws are in place to protect NIP, then I think legal action should be taken, but it doesn’t belong in civil court, IMHO. But at any rate – the law exists and yet still many businesses do not adhere – and certainly many PEOPLE do not agree with the law.

  19. 19
    Lauren says:

    The only thing I noticed about that picture was that the latch looked painful. Ow!

    This is so frustrating. She’s feeding her child, get over it!

    I believe it was Parenting magazine who did an article this month about reactions to nursing in public. It was pretty depressing. Lots of angry looks and the like directed at a mother who *was* “covering up”. I’d hate to see how they act towards someone who doesn’t drape a blanket over herself and her baby so as not to offend.

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  21. 20
    RonF says:

    Yes breastfeeding is natural but so is urinating and defecating, does this mean we’ll catch people doing that in public too?

    Breathing is natural, too; should I have to go into the bathroom to do that? Equating feeding one’s child with urinating and defecating is … stupider than I can properly express.

  22. 21
    sam says:

    Actually, this is more than just a social rule. In any state where there is a law allowing NIP, it is worded almost exactly like that – anywhere it’s reasonable for a mom and baby to be, it’s reasonable to feed said baby in whatever means is necessary. Some of the less progressive states add in a little tid bit about “discretion” although most at this point have taken that language out at this point.

    Let’s also not forget that this doesn’t even matter in NYC, which is where Maggie lives, since it’s 100% legal for women to be topless in any public area in NYC that it’s legal for men to be topless. Whether or not there’s a baby attached.

    See: http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/18/topless.settlement.ap/index.html

  23. 22
    slythwolf says:

    Her tit hanging all over the place is not natural.

    Of course not! It’s so much more natural to strap your tits in place with a bra. Letting them hang free–I mean, if we were meant to let our tits hang free, we would have been born without bras! Oh wait…

    In my speech class last fall, the girl who sat next to me gave an informative speech on breastfeeding and mentioned at one point that, thankfully, in Michigan a woman has the legal right to feed her child wherever she chooses. She lost points on the speech because our professor decided this made it a persuasive, not an informative, speech. Fucking sad.

    Edit:

    it’s 100% legal for women to be topless in any public area in NYC that it’s legal for men to be topless.

    Yay! Fucking awesome! One more step toward society understanding that breasts are not sexual organs. Now, every time I say that, I always get some asshole saying that because they are often erogenous zones, breasts are sexual organs, but fuck that, because the neck and earlobes are often erogenous zones and nobody’s telling me I have to cover them up.

    Edit again:
    Holy shit, have just gone to look at the pictures. I think the only way these people could possibly consider that a “saggy” breast is if the only breasts they ever see are of the sphere-attached-to-ribcage-beneath skin implant variety.

  24. 23
    kactus says:

    I wonder how many NIP supporters here and elsewhere “happily watched Secretary”.

    Not sure what your point is here, but I nursed in public AND I absolutely loved Secretary. So I guess that proves…something, I dunno.

  25. 24
    Chesna says:

    What a freakin peasant!

    really?? calling her a peasant? because the gentry would never stoop so low, I guess. *sigh*

  26. 25
    WiseCrone says:

    Many years ago now, I attended a dinner with my in-laws, or should I say former in-laws, in a private function room of a restaurant with my nursing child and her supportive (of me nursing) father. When she needed to nurse, I calmly did what I always did by putting a burp cloth over my shoulder and breast area and then began nursing her. She did her typical eyes-rolling-back-in-her-head-drool-down-the-side-of-her-mouth-oh-god-mom-this-is-heaven! My two sisters-in-law looked at me from across the table, clearly uncomfortable. One of them said to me, “Can’t you go feed her in the bathroom?” I retorted, “Would you like to eat your dinner in the bathroom? Why should she?” I kept doing what I was doing. It was their problem, not mine, and certainly not my daughter’s. Thanks for a great blog and speaking out! Can’t believe the ignorance still runs rampant 25 years later. Goddess forbid a woman should be in touch with her body.