Breasts - what are they? An icon of nurture, or an icon of female shame?

You may have noticed one or two journals which were deleted yesterday. I noticed sammywol had the dreaded strike-through when I saw a comment by her left on someone's journal the day before.

From entries in other people's journals I find that this was a mark of protest, for 24 hours, against a ruling by the LJ icon police that icons showing breastfeeding may not be used as default icons as they are against rules banning nudity.

I decided this was not only extremely stupid, but also sexually discriminatory, and sent the following to them -

Following reports in a number of journals, I am writing to complain strongly about the way in which you appear to be targeting women who use icons showing nursing children. Any suggestion that something so natural might be in any way offensive I would consider to be sexual discrimination.

I find this ban extremely offensive. Probably immeasureably more so than anyone, no matter how biggotted, may have found such an icon in the first place.

If you are willing to ban the use of pictures of infants feeding because someone found them offensive, then I would hope that you would advance me exactly the same level of courtesty and remove this offensive ban.

Please note - I do not use such an icon myself, nor have I ever done so, but I find the whole idea that someone can complain about something so inoffensive and you actually pamper to them so amazing that I am now worried that should someone complain about the portrayal of animals in icons, being animal rights activists, or simply having a marsupial phobia, that I will receive a similar 'banning order'.

This morning I received a standard reply which is ( Under the cut, as it is long. )

Now I find a number of things here to be illogical, or downright stupid - and any parents behaving in the way they outline when confronted with a breastfeeding mother are so downright warped that a flock of social workers should descend on them immediately.

Umm - and by definition a breastfeeding mother wearing any clothing is not 'nude' - nude means with no clothing.

Feel free to link to this - the more people who write to the TOS team about this the better.

And apparently some people have been flamed for mentioning it - personally I suggest the flamers apply to join the TOS team as they are TOSsers already.

And a PS - before you ask, actually I didn't breastfed, I was too ill after my daughter was born, so I am not a LaLeche fanatic or whatever, at all.