Community Corner

Has TIME's Breast Feeding Cover Gone Too Far?

The cover of TIME magazine's upcoming issue features a 26-year-old mother breastfeeding her 4-year-old son.

If you're a subscriber to TIME magazine, you're likely in for a surprise when you get your May 21 issue in the mail. 

The magazine cover shows Jamie Lynne Grumet, a slim blonde 26-year-old California mom, breastfeeding her son, who turns 4 years old next month

Breastfeeding has long been a topic of debate. When should mothers stop breastfeeding? Should mothers be allowed to breastfeed in public? Seemingly everybody has an opinion. 

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From a Huffington Post report: 

In the provocative new cover story of its May 21 issue, TIME Magazine has tapped into a two-decade-long parenting conversation that has boiled over in recent months. Journalist Kate Pickert reports on the rise of attachment parenting, a set of techniques popularized by Dr. Bill Sears in "The Baby Book," his 767-page treatise published in 1992. Yet, while Pickert delves into who Sears is and why controversy surrounds his theories -- the three biggies advocate baby-wearing, extended breastfeeding and co-sleeping -- the magazine's decision to illustrate this story with photographs of real mothers breastfeeding their toddlers is what has everyone talking.

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According to a Washington Post blog, the philosophy behind attachment parenting advocates breastfeeding, eschews spanking children and other kinds of corporal punishment and has inspired the natural childbirth, anti-circumcision and natural and organic foods movements. 

The cover has already sparked controversy throughout the world of social media. And once the magazine hits newstands, even more discussion is likely to take place. 

What do you think? Did the editors of TIME go too far with this cover? How far is too far? What are your thoughts on breastfeeding and attachment parenting? 



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