Breastfeeding Babes

This blog is intended to both poke fun at, and shed light on, the confluence of a couple of phenomena of the internet age:  the level of discourse one finds on “comment” areas of newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc., and the polarization of the nation into just two camps (liberal or conservative, pepsi or coke, tastes great or less filling).  Some might say these are not two phenomena but rather two portions of the same phenomena – anonymity on the web—which allows people the “freedom” to be rude, even mean, to each other from the safety of the computer screen and thus act differently than they would if they were having a face-to-face conversation at the local coffee shop.

The blog is titled “Be Reasonable” to bring focus to what is out of focus: that people don’t seem to be able to engage in reasonable discussion or reasonable disagreement, but instead act in disrespectful ways to feel like they’ve made their point.  Of course, this does nothing of the sort.  So, I am here to implore people to please, take a look at the items I post here…see yourself in them…and “Be Reasonable” for once.

I do have to point out here that I did not invent the idea of “Be Reasonable.”  It came out of a discussion I was having with a fellow blogger and friend.  The idea behind “Be Reasonable” is hers…I have just chosen to run with it.  Now that that caveat is out of the way, let’s proceed to the first ever post on “Be Reasonable.”

This past week saw Time magazine grace its cover with a photo of a mom breastfeeding her son.  A son who appeared to be of an age when most kids would not still be breastfeeding.  

When I first heard of this I thought, “Now that’s provocative.”  Then I thought, “I bet lots of people will have lots to say on that subject.”  I went to my local newspaper and I was not disappointed:

Let’s begin with "observer1776":

Note the use of the words pervert, Liberal, and kiddie porn to make his point.  I sense “observer” probably thinks those words are synonymous.  Don’t think it’s lost on me that when you look at “observer”s photograph you probably think “now there’s a man who probably knows a thing or two about kiddie porn.”  My point is this: “observer” probably wouldn’t take kindly to that sentiment from simple observation of looking at his photo and making a judgment about him.

Next up, we have “Buddydog,” who I think paints a humorous, male-oriented, view of the situation:

Alas, in today’s world, even tongue-FIRMLY-PLANTED-in-cheek humor can be misunderstood and commented on:

Great.  Not only “missingwisc” but also missing any semblance of a sense of humor.

 “sticker” here, takes another predictable “holier-than-thou” approach:           

"sticker" and "missingwisc" are such goddamn perfect mothers, they can’t stand it.  It may be true that "missingwisc"'s daughter is a perfect child, and I am sure "sticker" is a perfect grandmother, but her dog looks none-too-happy to be wearing those bunny ears and could go on a killing rampage at any time.  So, let’s get down off the high horses ladies, shall we?

Then there’s “27081,” who shouts the conservative mantra (“stop being intellectual!”) and doubles down by using the smear “progressive.”  Ah, I remember way back a couple of years ago when, if you looked up “progressive” in the dictionary, you would think it was a positive term.

Not to be outdone by this conservative banter, “lufrank1” takes up the liberal cause with his own smear at conservatives…and all of the sudden this isn’t about breastfeeding but is about the fate of the world as we know it.

“cheap_thinker” veils her thoughts in the form of a question…”hey, I’m just askin’”

And with that...I will let “cricket44” have the last word on this subject.  Indeed, it’s not Armageddon folks.  People can disagree about all sorts of things without it turning into a cage match, fight-to-the-death.

Be Reasonable.