Although I do not deny that some men can receive sexual titillation (no pun intended) from watching a woman breast-feed her infant, I don't think that any measures will reduce some men's ability to sexualize a situation. (Written by Michelle Melbourne)

Your comments
Breast-feeding is not porn but women should not bare it all in public, cover it with a cloth. Best be safe. It can certainly be distracting.

Eremem
Jakarta

I don't want to put my comment on the other thread, since I think many people misunderstood what the message Mayasari Oey (Oct. 20) was trying to convey. Just like many Indonesians, they react more on an emotional level first before reading the real message.

The real theme I think is more on the stigma of pornography. One of the mothers cared so much for her baby that she'd rather risk breast-feeding in public than see her infant hungry. While the other one, more concerned with the pornography stereotype, that she would rather see her baby hungry then let herself do what should be the actual basic duty of a mother . "doing her best to feed her child".

Ananda
Jakarta

I'm of the view the many letters published on The Jakarta Post online version demonstrate a public opinion that cares so much about the sacred duty of a mother in particular and gender in general.

But one has to peruse the article prior to making a hasty judgment. Isn't it the pornography law that is the main target of this satirical writing? As a graduate of the prestigious University of Indonesia Faculty of Psychology, I don't think May is looking for instant recognition with her writing.

Felix
Sydney

Felix, unfortunately, I don't think that the writer is as completely innocent or that the article is a complete satire as you suggest. I say this because Oey indicated covering up while breast-feeding needs to be socialized (in her article and her online response), or that wearing a headscarf or not determines how a breast-feeding mother will react. If breast-feeding mothers should be covering up (to be socially responsible), what's next, one might insist?

That women should be covering up, if they do not want to get raped or draw any unwanted attention from perverts? How ridiculous. For many women taking the economy class train (and for all women for that matter), breast-feeding is the only economically viable and nutritionally superior option. "Breast-feeding covers" or whatever fancy parenting gear Oey can probably afford, is often the last thing on the mother's mind after putting food on the table.

I think the writer needs to "think more before she writes" on her language use, on her choice of words, on her opinion, on the responsibility she has toward her readers.

And it is an obligation for responsible amateur and professional writers alike to be accountable for what they write on paper. Yes, I do sympathize with Oey for some of the harsh responses she received, but it might do her good to take some of the more constructive comments into account in her next piece of writing.

Flabber
Jakarta

Michelle, (the writer) I totally agree with your opinion. There is nothing wrong with breast-feeding your child in public and indeed, the suggestion in the article that breast-feeding constitutes porn is so sickening.

Turi
Singapore

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