Sublime

The hypocrisy is stunning – all sorts of sexually charged images of girls in bikinis revealing their derrieres and hoicked-up cleavages are fine, but a woman feeding her child in the most nonsexual setting possible is somehow unacceptable.

Those babies that were safely delivered had an even riskier time than their mothers. The ones that appeared weak or disabled would have been ‘exposed’, which may often have meant being thrown away on a local rubbish tip. Those that were unwanted met the same fate.

We coo at pregnant bellies, sanctify that most blatant acknowledgement of sex, but shame this ephemeral evidence.

Nearly one in four new mothers in America return to work just two weeks after giving birth—but