The improvements in technology have caused many changes both scientifically and economically. The technology has enabled people to communicate with one another and share ideas freely. However, the developments in technology has also caused changes in the social aspect of the society. Because of the ability to express ideas without any restrictions, the internet, most especially the social media have been cultivated as venues for both empowering and degrading cultures. From the year 2005-2015, the approximate number of internet users have reached 3.7 billion globally (Statista). What is alarming with this growing number of internet users, is the culture of double-standards and slut-shaming that is being integrated and spread in the internet (Poole). I believe that every individual has the right to post any information on the internet as long as 1) it is done with good intent, 2) it does not violate the rights of other people, and 3) it does not put the life of another person’s at risk.
This paper revolves around the issue that enveloped the photo posted by a young mother named Karlesha Thurman, that surfaced and became controversial in the internet. The photo that Thurman posted in a Facebook group named “Black Women Do Breastfeed”, was a photo of her breastfeeding her 3-month old daughter Aaliyah in the middle of her graduation. According to Thurman, she was not aware that breastfeeding in public has been an issue not until her photo became viral. Thurman posted the photo in order to express how her daughter motivated her to finish her degree in Accountancy from the California State University. She brought her daughter with her in her seat during graduation, to grant the request of her friends to meet her baby, but then, Aaliyah started crying that’s why she did what she automatically does, which was to breastfeed her. This is when one of her friends took a photo of her while breastfeeding.
Having the good intentions in sharing the photo, many people expressed encouraging and motivational messages for Thurman. However, there were also people who left negative and degrading comments in her photo. Many internet users said that her photo was disgusting and inappropriate and that the act itself of breastfeeding in the middle of her graduation was ‘weird’. The comments on her photo were very inappropriate and humiliating. Thurman had no ill intentions for posting her photo, but merely wanted to express her appreciation of her daughter and her happiness that she graduated for her. In the first place, she was not even the one who took the photo, which means that she did not really have first thoughts of having the moment captured. She only did what she normally does with her child, which was to breastfeed Aaliyah when she is hungry.
This is one of the biggest problems with the culture built by the internet. The perceptions of the people magnify the stereotypes that the society has created about certain things. In this case, the comments and reactions that Thurman obtained from her photo reflected the society’s positive, but mostly negative perception about breastfeeding. The factor that may have affected the negative comments that Thurman garnered, was the sexual perception that people attached to a woman’s breast (Johnston-Robledo, Wares, Fricker, & Pasek). Some of the negative commentators even stated that if Thurman had not been a mother at a young age, she should have not need to breastfeed during her graduation. This is an example of the culture of slut shaming in the internet. Women are
being highly objectified nowadays. Women who express themselves explicitly tend to receive names such as “whore”, “hoe”, and “slut” (Ringrose). More than Thurman’s photo, the negative comments from people on the internet were more inappropriate. Thurman did not deserve the negative comments that she earned, for she did not intend any harm to anyone. Her only intent was to nurse her hungry child, and posting the photo had the only intent to express her pride as a mother. I also agree with her that breastfeeding is a natural thing, and must not be judged negatively by the society.
This brings up the other issue of double standards in the internet (Papp, Hagerman, Gnoleba, Erchull, Liss, McLean, Robertson). Most of the time, women, including celebrities, who post “sexy” photos showing their bodies on the internet solicits positive comments and compliments. Other women would often express their appreciation and how they want to have a body like such, while men tend to express attraction and compliments towards the woman. What I do not understand is why breastfeeding mothers, without the intent to attract or gather compliments receive bashings, curses, and degrading comments instead, when what they are doing is a natural and important thing experienced by every human (Acker).
These cultures that are being magnified and cultivated in the internet is becoming an alarming issue. Because culture is produced and reproduced through communication, people on the internet should be more careful in posting information online, because though an individual does not have any bad intentions towards posting something like in Thurman’s case, there would always be people who would find the negative in all things. Every individual is entitled to self-expression as long they do not impose any threat or harm to another person. Lastly, every internet user must be responsible and critical in posting and commenting information online so as to take care of his/her welfare as well.
Works Cited
Acker, Michele. "Breast Is BestBut Not Everywhere: Ambivalent Sexism and Attitudes Toward Private and Public Breastfeeding." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 61.7 (2009): 476-90. Springer Link. Web. 6 May 2016. <http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-009-9655-z>.
Johnston-Robledo, Ingrid, Stephanie Wares, Jessica Fricker, and Leigh Pasek. "Indecent Exposure: Self-objectification and Young Women’s Attitudes Toward Breastfeeding." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 56.7 (2007): 429-37. Springer Link. Web. 6 May 2016. <http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-007-9194-4>.
"Number of Internet Users Worldwide from 2005 to 2015." Statista: The Statistical Portal. Web. 6 May 2016. <http://www.statista.com/statistics/273018/number-of-internet-users- worldwide/>.
Papp, Leanna J., Charlotte /haggerman, Michelle A. Gnoleba, Mindy J. Erchull, Miriam Liss, Haley Miles-McLean, and Caitlin M. Robertson. "Exploring Perceptions of Slut-Shaming on Facebook: Evidence for a Reverse Sexual Double Standard." 32.1 (2015): 55-76. Springer Link. Web. 6 May 2016. <http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12147-014- 9133-y>.
Poole, Emily. "Hey Girls, Did You Know? Slut-Shaming on the Internet Needs to Stop." HeinOnline 48 (2013). Https://www.usfca.edu/. Web. 7 May 2016. <http://lawblog.usfca.edu/lawreview/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Hey-Girls-Did-You- Know-Slut-Shaming-on-the-Internet-Needs-to-Stop.pdf>.
Ringrose, Jessica. "Slut-shaming, Girl Power and ‘sexualisation’: Thinking through the Politics of the International SlutWalks with Teen Girls." Gender and Education 24.3 (2012). Taylor & Francis Online. Web. 7 May 2016. <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09540253.2011.645023>.
