(WTVR) The most recent Time magazine issue certainly shocked thousands across the country.
Midlothian mom, Emily Freeman, said she was scrolling through stories online when the magazine cover caught her eye. It shows a mom openly breastfeeding her nearly four-year-old son.
“When I saw it, I kind of did a double take. Like whoah,” said Freeman.
That same shock reverberated across the country. On our CBS 6 Facebook page alone, people fired away, with one viewer writing, “It’s just gross and indecent. “
In response to our CBS 6 poll, 76% said they thought the cover went too far. [Take the poll by clicking here]
Ultimately though, Freeman sees nothing wrong with it. "I feel like if you flip through that magazine, you're going to see a lot more women with a lot less clothes on,” said Freeman.
Controversy aside, this cover has started several debates, including breastfeeding in public.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 79.1% of Virginia women admit to breastfeeding, making it tough to find anyone who thinks doing this so in public is inappropriate.
"For myself, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing so...but, I don't mind if anyone else does," said one Chesterfield woman.
There is also a debate churning about the nearly four-year-old boy pictured in the photo, for an article which investigates “attachment parenting.”
Another CBS 6 viewer posted on our Facebook page, “He’s too old for that.”
“At three and four years, usually it's not so much about the nutrition. It's about the closeness,” said Nancy Raines, lactation consultant at Johnston Willis Hospital.
Raines told CBS 6 that while breastfeeding a child for three or four years may seem strange, it does have benefits.
"Those children tend to be more self-sufficient, more independent, they're more confident,”said Raines.
