Feeding Frenzy

BENGALURU: It is a natural act that has inspired some of the best artists in the world. But as a Malayalam magazine recently found out, the visual of a breastfeeding woman continues to raise the hackles of a society that is well into the 21st century.
A few weeks ago, at an editorial meeting of Grihalakshmi, the popular Malayalam weekly, editor Moncy Joseph was discussing story ideas with his team. During the course of the discussion, one of the reporters present mentioned a Facebook post that had gone viral in Kerala in January. The post featured a photograph of a new mother feeding her young child, and it was posted by her husband.

Normally, this would have been a cue for friends and family to go “Aaaaaw, so sweet”, but the post soon got shared multiple times, and the comments soon became horribly misogynistic, with multiple strangers making obscene remarks. The post was ultimately taken down, but the entire incident was another instance of the unadulterated misogynistic identity of the internet Indian.

The Plan

Moncy remembered the incident well, and decided that it would be a good thing for Grihalakshmi to come out strongly in favour of public breastfeeding, combining it with an admonition to leering males everywhere to treat the act of feeding a baby with respect.

“We wanted to bring out an issue that featured a strong social message for our Women’s Day edition, and we thought that the subject of breastfeeding was worthwhile,” said Moncy. The Women’s Day issue was to feature a woman breastfeeding a child and run with a caption that read, “Mothers tell Kerala: Don’t stare, we want to breastfeed”.

The Execution

To find a suitable subject for the cover photograph, Moncy turned to Jinson Abraham. Abraham is a software engineer who had been making a name for himself as a photographer in Kochi. The cover was initially supposed to feature a real-life actor who had recently become a mother, but she backed out before the photo shoot, citing personal reasons. In the scramble to find a replacement in time, Abraham turned to a friend of his, Gilu Joseph.

The 27-year-old Gilu Joseph had recently given up her job as an airhostess to concentrate on subjects that mattered more to her– theatre and writing poetry. She was at a restaurant when she received a text message from Abraham. “Gilu was a friend of mine, and she’s well connected, so I asked her if she could recommend a mother and child who would be willing to pose for the cover photo,” said Abraham.

Soon after he sent the message, Abraham received a call from Gilu. “She couldn’t think of anyone offhand, she said, but she also told me that she could pose for the photo as the nursing mother,” he said. “When I received Abraham’s message, I thought about it. It seemed that the message the magazine was trying to get across was a good one, so I thought, ‘Why not do it myself’”, she said.

After Gilu signed on, the photo shoot went smoothly. Abraham was able to find a couple with an infant child who were willing to be part of the photoshoot. The couple came to the studio, and spent some time with Gilu until the child was comfortable with her presence, and the photographs were taken.

Adverse Reaction

When Grihalakshmi’s March issue hit the stands, the uproar was immediate. If it had been Moncy’s intention to create a stir, he succeeded. Too well.

In the echoing amplification chambers of Twitter and Facebook, opinion was divided. Some said that the magazine was indulging in titillation to hike sales.” Some posted photographs of a woman with a baby pressed against her sari, saying that was the way breastfeeding had to be represented. One wag said that after a bare breast for breastfeeding, it would be bare bottoms for birth control. Others criticized the fact that Gilu was looking at the camera, not looking down devotedly at the feeding child. Still others took offense at the fact that the magazine had used a model, and not a real lactating mother.

Others – especially women –praised the magazine for its stance. “Why is this still an issue in 2018?” was a popular reaction.

Legal Actions

But in a country that’s so quick to take offense, this was just the beginning. Some people write letters to the editor. Others post on social media. And there are those who go all the way to the authorities.

Kerala-based advocate Jiyas Jamal was one of the first to lodge a complaint with the State Child Rights Commission against Gilu Joseph, parents of the baby girl featured in the cover and publishers of Grihalakshmi.

“They have commercialized the sanctity of motherhood for publicity,” he said. “They have used an unmarried model instead of using a real lactating mother. More than that, they have abused the child. Any complaint about child abuse must be taken seriously by the commission,” he said.

When asked what action he felt the commission should take, he paused. “My aim is only to make the creators of the campaign and people taking up social causes understand that they should handle these campaigns the right way and not generalise or commercialise them.” According to Jamal, using a model was the wrong way.

Vinod Mathew Wilson, another Kerala-based advocate, filed a case at the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kollam, charging Moncy and Gilu, the two Josephs involved, under the Indecent Representation of Women Act, 1986. As per Wilson, the cover photo is “lascivious” and degrades women.

Singled Out

For Moncy, the events have been bewildering. The magazine has been getting calls from people asking for pornographic content. Abraham, the photographer, has also been targeted. “My Facebook page is flooded with abuses slamming the photo I have taken. Some have questioned me on why the model wasn’t looking at the child while breastfeeding but was staring at the camera. The negative response was expected but these claims of abusing the child for the shoot were completely unexpected,” he said.

But the brunt of the abuse has, as usual, been borne by the woman. “I can ignore the obscenities and crudities. I anticipated negative responses but what really hurt was the abuse directed to my family who ultimately weren’t pleased with me posing for the cover. At the end of it all people can say what they want but I believe that I have, as a single woman, come forward for a social cause which I believe in, and that is enough for me,” says Gilu.

On Stamp

According to Bengaluru-based philatelist G Anuplal, in 1981, the Postal Department issued a stamp showing a mother breastfeeding her child. It was seen as a stolidly worthy representation of the theme of child health. In 2016, the Union Government launched MAA (Mothers’ Absolute Affection), a nation-wide breastfeeding programme. It was launched by Union Health & Family Welfare minister JP Nadda. The programme is supervised by UNICEF, which noted that more than a third of Indian infants are exclusively breastfed in their first six months. But if a woman can’t breastfeed a child without being subject to leers, isn’t it a surprise?

As Julia Roberts says in Notting Hill, “They’re just breasts. Every second person in the world has them. They’re for milk.” Why make a big deal about it?