New Jersey mom MaryAnn Sahoury was unpleasantly surprised recently when she Googled her name and found a gaggle of porn websites where she appeared breastfeeding her baby girl. It turns out, she'd agreed to participate in a video instructing women on how to breastfeed, but the clips were put on YouTube allegedly without her knowledge. These images were then co-opted by a porn video company who took her tutorial and manipulated it into actual breastfeeding porn.
I have to admit–and maybe I'm a little naïve–but I had no idea that there was a breastfeeding genre in the adult film/internet industry! Taking one of the most beautiful things that a mom could experience and turning them into a sleazy sex video seemed beyond disgusting to me. Oh, but it gets worse…
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"For a mom, it's really hard to see that. You don't want your kids exposed to that world," Sahoury told WNBC. Which is why she sued Meredith Corporation, who owns the video company that shot the educational video where she and her baby daughter were featured. Sahoury had actually signed documents with Meredith allowing them to use her image in this video, which is normal protocol when it comes to photographs or video. The problem is that Sahoury claims she was told that only her first name would be used–the company went ahead and attached her full name and her baby daughters!–in the video materials.
Meredith also released a statement:
"Meredith was appalled to learn someone misused a video meant to help new mothers. We took immediate action, hiring leading law firms and online specialists to file take-down demands, clear online caches and create positive references. We took these actions even though Ms. Sahoury signed a release authorizing use of the video across all media platforms, and holding Meredith harmless for any potential misuse of the video by a third party."
I would think so! I'm glad that Meredith plans on taking legal action against the sickos who had the audacity to steal this poor mom's image and use it for something so disgusting. The shock of finding herself on a dirty porn video must have been doubled seeing that her baby daughter's name was attached. She was just weeks old at the time the video was shot in January 2010!
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I know there are all sorts of porn for all sorts of pervs–and hey, whatever floats your boat. But honestly, taking the image of a mom in the most tender and vulnerable maternal moment and turning it into something so dirty? That is just something I can't understand. I mean, whoever finds breastfeeding to be a sexual act has some SERIOUS issues.
View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.
What do you think of breastfeeding porn? Do you think the company should be held responsible for the video?
Image via Thinkstock
