October 13, 2005

When is an "alternative" paper anything but?

Answer: when it is so puerile that it thinks the sight of a breastfeeding infant is sexual. I hadn't been aware of the recent ludicrous events at [here] magazine, Saint John's erstwhile independent weekly bought out some time ago by the people who own every other newspaper in the province; my students told me about it today. In a nutshell, the Oct. 6 issue, originally displaying a lovely photograph of a suckling infant, was pulled off the stands and replaced by an illustration of .. well, Barbie. Barbie with a bad smell under her nose. The roses are a nice touch, don't you think? They remind me of my breastfeeding days. Or, wait, maybe a Kotex ad. Something feminine. And the editor of the paper, Miriam Christensen, who had already given notice, was fired. As it turns out, you can fire someone who has already quit: you lock them out of their computer and escort them off the premises. Something that should probably only happen at the Pentagon. Or maybe The National Post. The irony is — well, one of the ironies — that the photograph was illustrating a story which deplores the comparatively low rate of breastfeeding in this province, and advocates the development of more accepting attitudes toward breastfeeding, more public education, and more professional training. And what a good start they have made here. That, and ensuring our podunk status in the rest of the country: here is the CBC story, and a follow-up interview with the woman whose breast is at issue. (Funny, she doesn't look like a porn star. Barbie, on the other hand ... )

Further reading:

Saint Johnners aren't taking it lying down. Here is one thread, and here is an interesting discussion at giraffecycle.com (Brent MacDonald, the author of the article, comments about not doing any more work for [here], among other things).

Three stories about the Irvings and their monopoly on the English-language media in this province, at Your Media. The story by Erin Steuter (Sociology, Mount Allison U) is particularly good.

Scribbled at October 13, 2005 5:17 PM AST | Permanent link to this post | More? gender/sexuality, politics

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