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Lactivists wage breastfeeding war on Facebook
Keep an eye on Facebook on Saturday. As we report here, there are plans for a
virtual nurse-in from Facebook members upset with the popular social networking site for deleting pictures of women breastfeeding. That prompted a petition called "Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene." As word grew on the Web, the number of people signing up had tripled in one week to more than 61,000.
The Saturday nurse-in asks members to post a status line change that says "Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene" and post as many pictures as they can of breastfeeding mothers, artwork and even lactating mammals.
As Facebook is quick to point out, they don't delete all photos of breastfeeding, just the few they get complaints about or show an exposed breast. But the organizer says that's unfair to women who are doing nothing wrong. And they really dislike the notion that there's anything sexual about feeding your baby.
It shows how the online world is quickly becoming akin to the town square, where breastfeeding in public is legally protected. But as an expert in the field notes, Facebook is not the same as a town square, more of a walled garden members are invited into. The difference here is that the members can use Facebook's very own tools to draw attention.
-- Sharon Kennedy Wynne
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Sharon Kennedy Wynne has sunscreen in her blood. She may have been born in Buffalo but she got here as fast as she could, in time for kindergarten. She grew up in St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of Florida journalism school, and even got married at Sunken Gardens. She's one of the few adults we know who actually loves taking her kids to the beach. She has two sons and with 10 years of parenting under her belt, she's starting to feel a little less out of her league. She comes from a large family and loves to debate, so brace yourself when the hot topics come up.
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Freelance writer Courtney Cairns Pastor wasn’t so sure about having kids and how she would balance child-rearing with her journalism career. It turned out that her journalism training went to good use. As the mom to a funny, active toddler, she learned to handle him like she did her sources. Never ask yes or no questions (the answer will always be no), get him to be specific (are you crying because you’re wet or your tooth hurts?) and be prepared for anything because no two days are the same. When she’s not playing trucks, Courtney crams for her book club, trains for races and occasionally bursts into showtunes. E-mail her at 
Suzannah DiMarzio has it bad for the Mouse. Although she grew up outside of Boston, she took her degree in tourism management down to Orlando just to work at Disney and the travel industry. Of course, when she married her high school sweetheart, the reception was at Disney. She’s now a seasoned stay-at-home mom to two tweens and a toddler – and yes, that is as crazy as it sounds. Suzannah has her own blog, Comment Policy
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