An advocate in Kerala registered a case against Malayalam magazine Grihalakshmi on Friday, for featuring actress and writer Gilu Joseph breastfeeding a child on the cover of its latest edition.
Advocate Vinod Mathew Wilson has filed a criminal complaint in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kollam, a week after the publication featured Gilu Joseph breastfeeding a child on the cover of its edition.
The magazine featured the controversial image of Gilu Joseph with the caption, “Mothers tell Kerala: Don’t stare, we want to breastfeed” which has caused an uproar on social media last week.
People allege that the picture is of a lewd nature and degrades women. The complaint thus alleges the commission of offences punishable under Sections 3 and 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
However, some people on social media praised the magazine and the model for the bold move claiming it to be a moment of historical nature.
The model Joseph also gave some piece of her mind about the nudity, how this cover will be perceived, the doubts and fears she had before committing to this, to IE Malayalam.
Joseph also revealed that when she was approached with the project, she did not think twice before agreeing to be a part of this as breastfeeding is a privilege that only a mother enjoys. Making an emphasising on how women should know that this a very natural phenomenon, she stressed that there is nothing to be ashamed of when one has to feed her baby. “It is a problem to interpret this sexually. Isn’t it a beautiful thing, friends? Why do you think it is wrong? Which god will be angry if you feed your child” she said.
While speaking to Indian Express, Joseph said, “I have only done things that I have believed is right for me. I must have failed, but I have no regrets.”
As per an article published in NDTV, Grihalakshmi’s editor Moncy Joseph told BBC that the idea for the magazine cover came to her mind following the photo of a woman breastfeeding her child, posted on Facebook by her husband, that went viral.
“A month ago, a man shared a picture of his wife breastfeeding on Facebook to start a conversation about letting mothers feed in public spaces. But the result was that the woman was subjected to cyber-bullying from both men and women,” BBC quotes Gilu Joseph as saying. “That is why we decided to dedicate our latest issue to breastfeeding mothers.”