NAKED AS THE DAY YOU WERE BORN

The internet era has ushered in a heightened concern for the sexual exploitation of minors. In criminal cases, deservedly so. An unfortunate back spin from this concern, however, is a heightened paranoia and censorship around the very most essential human experience: motherhood.

The sad result is a shunning for the very nature of motherhood, such as women who are criticized for breastfeeding anywhere outside the home. On facebook, for example, any images of breast feeding are deleted as being "obscene."

On a warm summer day, I was walking through a city park. In one section was a fountain where dozens of children shrieked and squealed and danced in the spray of water. A group of mothers watched from the sidelines, chatting casually, soaking in the sun and relaxing. As I passed, I thought of the parks I used to play in as a toddler with my sister--how we loved to dance in the sprinklers. I saw one naked toddler laughing and dancing among the other children and thought: "What a lovely, heartwarming scene; naked as a child, innocent, knowing only the sensation of cool water on a hot summer day." It was a lovely reminder of our own human origins, the innocence we are all born with, before bodily shame and concepts like racism. As I reveled in my good mood for humanity, a woman came running up, screaming bloody murder: "Put some clothes on that baby! Put some clothes on that poor child!"

In our conversations to define and regulate social behavior, something has gone horribly askew. On my new HDTV, I have seen images of women being brutally beaten, raped, psychologically tortured, and shot in the head at point blank. This was just prime time programing, flipping through stations. I didn't seek it out; I was bombarded with it.

I am subjected to thousands of images of violence toward women on a monthly basis, yet I am "protected" from images of a woman caring for, nurturing, and nursing her newborn.

America, I don't want your images of hate, of crimes, of killing, beating, stabbing. Someone, please, show me images of hugging, laughing, holding. What is more lovely than a mother, holding her baby on her belly, bouncing her child until she sees the sparkle in their eyes, the smile?

The nudity of mother or baby is not obscene, it is what makes us beautifully human.