Are You MILF Enough?

What better way to get people buzzing than featuring a hip blond mom breastfeeding her post toddler child?

Breastfeeding babies in public causes a stir. People have an issue with nursing in public even with an infant. Here they used a 3-year-old child when most children are weaned between 6 months and a year.  People are up in arms simply because it depicts such an intimate act between a mother and child, - and even more commotion breaks lose when it's a hot blonde that's MILF material.

If the heat of the summer doesn't get you all hot-tempered, well you may get differently "hot" instead seeing the latest magazine cover which has become the talk of the world recently.

Time magazine's May cover features an attractive proud mother breastfeeding a three-year old boy. There's bold red text saying “Are You Mom Enough?” as the headline. The boy, who looks old enough to ride a bike without training wheels, is looking straight at the camera with a breast in his mouth, as if daring you to judge.

I'm sure by now some of you have scooped your jaws off the floor and are wondering who in their right mind would volunteer to take this picture for the whole world to see?

They’re trying to sell magazines, but they could have picked a cover that wasn't trying so hard to be controversial and even sexy.

Journalist Kate Pickert reports on the rise of attachment parenting, a set of techniques popularized by Dr. William (Bill) Sears in "The Baby Book," his 767-page treatise published in 1992. In the article, Pickert explores who Sears is and why controversy surrounds his theories -- specifically baby-wearing, extended breastfeeding and co-sleeping -- but it's TIME's photographs of real mothers breastfeeding their toddlers that has everyone talking.

The breastfeeding mom is Jamie Lynne Grumet, a lithe blonde 26-year-old California mom, breastfeeding her 3-year-old son. She is an attractive supermodel-looking woman donning super-skinny jeans, ballet flats and a spaghetti tank top. Don’t forget about the part where her strap is pulled down so her son can attach himself to her breast to have lunch.

Jamie Lynne is a mommy blogger who continues to breastfeed her son in skinny jeans and will continue until he is five. Her blog is Iamnotthebabysitter.com is on its way to crash due to traffic because of the many curious individuals who want to take a peek more of this "hot momma".

TIME photographer Martin Schoeller also shot other families on the same day. The other two mother and children were Jessica Cary and her 3-year-old daughter, and Dionna Ford with her 4-year-old son and 5-month-old daughter.

The usual questions that come up when mothers are called out for breastfeeding in public (which happens often) include:

Is breastfeeding indecent? Or natural? Most doctors would recommend that all mothers breastfeed for a full year -- or longer if the mother so chooses, so how can we shame women who are just following the advice of their doctors?

There is no doubt that the TIME cover strikes the public as shocking.

Below is the controversial, and quite provocative for others (because that mother is a hot babe, a real MILF so to speak), Time magazine cover.

When you see the magazine, women would wish they looked like her and men, well, I’m disgusted but not surprised to read comments out there on the world wide web along the lines of, “I’d suck that tit”, “Damn, I wish I were him”,  "Breast feeding is a good way to keep off those unwanted pounds. I wouldn't mind drinking from that fountain and then slowly slip down to the Nether Region. Got to scrub your face after the old milfshake",  and "She has no ass and her breasts are tapped out, but hey she looks pretty damn attractive...just get that towheaded MAMMOTH MOTHER FUCKA boy out the way, and I'd take her to buffalo wild wings." (Gross)

Jamie and almost 4-year-old son, Aram, had to stage this particular pose for the photographer. It’s one out of a dozen, I’m sure. Somewhere there are hundreds of sub-par photos the editor just couldn’t make work. So for an hour, this kid had to naturally stay latched on to her nipple without it getting incest-child-porn weird, naturally.

I also feel terrible for the kid! Why? Because he is totally screwed. This photo will be around forever, and one day he’s going to be a teenager and his life will be hell. He will no longer be just the kid with the hot mom, but rather the kid who was photographed sucking on his mother’s breast at age 3 for all the world to see.

Nothing could be more divisive than publishing this exact cover at this exact moment in time (Mothers Day weekend). And certainly the editors of TIME are more than aware of this, as it will inevitably incite another debate between women all over the world...and no doubt we will take the bait. But oh how I wish we wouldn't!

It’s classic link bait. Put a sensational picture, and say something as outrageous as possible to inflame as much debate as possible.

I have no problems with TIME Magazine’s photo. In fact, I think it’s genius and I hope they move a lot of paper because of it for the good of this dying industry. I don’t have a problem with kids being breast fed until an age where an unreasonable amount of “WTFs” happen (age 5 is pretty WTF to me, I suppose. When you can ask for pizza, it’s time to stop sucking). I do have a problem with the kids camo pants, a little douchey, but I’ll let it slide since what I’m really on about is the cover line.

The “Are You Mom Enough?” text is the offender of this cover. I get how it’s referencing the more popular phrase “Are you man enough?” that attributes the word “man” to mean bravery, fearless nature, strength, truck driving, long c*ck, massive balls… that sort of thing. The phrase can be used in other ways, such as, “You a pussy?”, “Got no scrote?”, “What’s the matter McFly? Chicken?”, “What, are you deaf and stupid?”.

“Mom” is a complex word that means so many different things to so many different people. Moms, sons, daughters, fathers, grandparents, all have a different opinions of what a mom means to them. It’s not fair for a national publication to put more pressure on women in our society to subconsciously adhere to yet another standard the media is touting for the good of sales. I thought we already had an image problem with teenage girls who read magazines and mentally ingest malnourished high-fashion models… and now they’re publicizing extreme mother abilities (barring you don’t work and are a SAHM)? For TIME Magazine to attempt to (breast) pump up women publicly with that cover line for a story about what an extreme sample of females are doing is the opposite of celebratory, it’s demeaning to the word “mom”.

Breast milk is indeed the most natural, perfect and best way to nourish children, but would such a cover encourage breastfeeding as a norm, or would people see this as a freaky attitude. Some people would say the cover sucks, literally !

Breast-fed infants have a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome. They suffer fewer illnesses such as diarrhea, earaches and pneumonia, because breast milk contains antibodies that help fend off infections until their own immune systems become robust. They're also less likely to develop asthma, or even to become fat later in childhood.

Moms can benefit, too, decreasing their risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer.

But, how old is too old for the child? The pediatricians' guidelines say breast-feeding should continue along with solid foods to age 1 — "or as long as mutually desired by mother and infant."

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends continuing "along with appropriate complementary foods up to 2 years of age or beyond." Well, WHO was on the safe side when they said "or beyond". "To (suck) for infinity and beyond!"

Toddlers sometimes make clear that they prefer a cup, but if both mom and child are comfortable, there's no harm in going longer than average.

Still, the clear nutritional benefit wanes as youngsters start getting most of their nutrition from solid food.

The cover, as well as the story, has drawn many critics on social media, and from noted celebrities and other personalities like Alyssa Milano who tweeted "@Time, no! You missed the mark! You're supposed to be making it easier for breastfeeding moms. Your cover is exploitive & extreme".

The controversy stems from the graphic nature of the photo, and from concern from some that the child in the picture is too old to be breast-feeding.

"To me, the whole point of a magazine cover is to get your attention," Time's managing editor, Rick Stengel, said in an interview. "From the moment that we started talking about this story as a cover possibility, it was like I couldn't get out of the meetings. There was so much opinion and passion about it and discussion. What that told me is, boy, this is a story that people care a lot about."

The online community has made fun of the cover and has made their own versions and memes, and I'm sure more would come out soon.