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Posts Categorized: Controversy

Published on July 26, 2012 by Renee

Breastfeeding While in Uniform: Scandal

Breastfeeding in Uniform

    Many of you may have heard of this scandal a few months back. Two women did a photo shoot where they breastfed their babies while in uniform. You can read more about it here. I know it’s old news but I wanted to talk about it since it affects a lot of us not only as mothers but also as military spouses.

    I have a hard time picking a stance on this issue. On the one hand I applaud it because I’m currently breastfeeding my almost seven month old son and I hate how there’s such a stigma against breastfeeding nowadays when it’s the most natural thing in the world. Don’t get me started, I could write a whole other blog post about that.

    On the other hand the women took pictures while breastfeeding in uniform and in the military there are rules about what you can and can’t do in uniform. You’re not supposed to chew gum, talk on a cell phone, or hold hands with your spouse so what makes breastfeeding any different?

    The difference for me is that breastfeeding is providing your child with food. Would they have been as ridiculed if they had done a photo shoot while bottle-feeding their children? Probably not.

    I always use a cover when I breastfeed in public. But if my child were hungry and I had no other option I’d whip a boob out in public and feed him. I’m not going to deny my child food in order to make someone else feel comfortable.

    I’m not going to say whether I think they should breastfeed in uniform or not. But I will say that they probably shouldn’t have done a photo shoot while doing it. Especially since the photo shoot was for a campaign to bring awareness about breastfeeding and they should have known it would be seen by many people and had the potential to spark controversy. Unless controversy is what they were going for in which case objective achieved.

    How do you feel about these women breastfeeding while in uniform?

      Published on July 23, 2012 by Maria

      Speak Up! Petition Against OSMW & Cyber Bullying

        Did I open a can of worms or WHAT?!

        So this is a follow up on the blog post about “Overly Sensitive Military Wives”.

        I understand I touched on quite a controversial topic. I didn’t realize it would create such a wild fire!

        I have to admit I have been quite “humored” by their responses on my blog post and their Facebook page. Overly Sensitive Military Wives (OSMW) and their fans have only proven my point – they promote cyber bullying, and have absolute no shame in the matter. They are just as bad as the military stereotypes they say bring shame to the military community. I now feel I have a duty to continue with what I started…

        As I stated in my blog post before, I am not against the OSMW jokes … I am against the “playground” they ENCOURAGE for people to practice their bully tactics. The OSMW do very little to moderate their followers’ comments and posts.  As a person who knows what it’s like be bullied, indirectly or NOT, then I feel that I HAVE RESPONSIBILITY to speak out for those people who have been genuinely hurt by these posts. This has gone beyond “The Freedom of Speech” act, and what they don’t realize is that there are also many, many, many acts in place AGAINST bullying. Those acts are taken FAR MORE seriously than “The Freedom of Speech” act.

        Let’s take a quick look at the facts I am so strongly against…

        • People have shared their opposed feelings with the page owners, and OSMW will only make a point of singling them out by quoting their messages of concern and making fun of them.
        • Encouraging fans to single people out by posting a real life photograph of someone that fit their jokes and then making a laughing stock out of them.
        • Encouraging fans to share disgusting opinions and comments about certain people that is beyond the line of being acceptable and humerous.
        • OSMW have the option to tailor their page so that people cannot post certain things on their page but they don’t.
        • If OSMW were professional and as entertaining as a real comedian, then they would ADMIT to their mistakes and take responsibility for people getting hurt.
        • Posting a few charitable posts does not mean you have created a balance of power – if it did then there wouldn’t be people like me willing to take it further than just a blog post sharing my opposed opinion.

        I will STICK to my points because I know for every one of their fans, there are two more people opposed to them…because that’s Karma and it’s groups like this that make the world a difficult place to live in.

        You will find attached a petition against their page, and with the support of Basewives, I WILL put an end to this, so that for the people who see the seriousness in this can feel at ease knowing that there is something there to protect them against this form of cyber bullying.

        If you agree with what I have to say then please sign the petition on this page and help end the trend of Overly Sensitive Military Wives and others like them who find entertainment in cyber bullying!

        Thank you for reading, and please note that any mean, nasty, or bully-like messages I receive from the fans of OSMW will only prove my point further and be used to support my petition.

          Published on July 21, 2012 by Maria

          Overly Sensitive Military Wives – NOTHING but Cyber BULLIES!

          Overly Sensative Military Wives

            Update: We’ve received tons of support to start a petition against Cyber Bullying. Read my follow up and sign our petition to prevent online harassment.

            I’m about to give a Facebook Page WAY MORE credit than it’s worth here! You’ve probably heard of it…


            Overly Sensitive Military Wives (OSMW)

            But WAIT before you all rush off to check out what this page is all about, I suggest you read my full post FIRST!

            I was first introduced to this page several weeks ago by a fellow M.S and I was immediately horrified at their awful sense of humor. Maybe it’s because I too am an OSMW, or perhaps maybe it’s because I have compassion, empathy, a heart and I see how this is a joke gone WAY too far!

            Basically OSMW is a page dedicated to stereotypes revolving around military wives. Whether you’re overweight, slim, work, don’t work, have kids, or don’t have kids, there is a stereotype to fit every female spouse in the military. However, they particularly target the overweight military spouse stereotype. Doesn’t sound like too much harm right?

            Well yeah I thought the same thing, I even laughed at a few posts seeing a part of the “old me” in them! But that wasn’t until I saw some of the comments left under their posts from their followers. How about we cut straight to the punch and I’ll give you an example…

            Overly Sensative Military Wives

            Maybe that wasn’t in bad taste ENOUGH! Perhaps a more graphic post will help you understand how this a “joke” gone way too far…

            Overly Sensative Military Wives

            After showing you these photos I don’t even feel like I need to elaborate much more on this subject…but in case you didn’t notice then read some of the comments posted by their followers. It’s clearly become an open space for coward’s bullies to sit behind the safety of their computers and revel in their wicked, cruel and mean behavior.

            How the creators of this page can feel comfortable at what they are CLEARLY encouraging is beyond my understanding! I’ve heard it is in fact run by fellow M.S. So I can only imagine that they are cold-hearted bullies like the followers they attract. As far as I’m aware they do very little to moderate their page, only reminding followers not to make fun of children

            But you know that’s not even the worst part! They ENCOURAGE their followers to post real life photos of military spouse fitting the stereotype. For example the other week, one girl posted a photo of an overweight military spouse standing in line at the PX. She said she wanted to puke looking at her. I am beyond appalled to think this is what people do in their spare time, and do they not realize they are “playing with fire”? …

            What if that exact spouse who was standing in line at the PX decided to visit OSMW that evening, and she was to find her picture posted on the wall of this public page. How humiliating and degrading is THAT!? … And believe me it’s not the first time that I’ve heard a spouse has seen her own photo posted on the wall! But imagine this, what if this spouse was having a really bad day, perhaps they just lost their husband in combat, and they then come to find their photo was captured and posted on this page the same day – that could be the one thing to “top” of her day, perhaps leading her to do something she might later regret. Is that the kind of thing OSMW want to be responsible for?

            To be perfectly honest I’m surprised that OSMW hasn’t been completely shut down by some higher authority in the military. Clearly the moderators of Facebook don’t care, but I would like to think someone does. A large part of me feels like reporting them myself! ESPECIALLY when the comments I read on their posts every day certainly strike an “Overly Sensitive” feeling inside of me that relate back to the same feelings when I was bullied. I can’t help but feel this page is nothing but advocating a playground for “Cyber Bullies” – THAT makes me want to puke all over my screen!

            Do you feel that this page is a joke gone too far? Share your opinions in the comment section below!