I’m confused. Again.
See, I was reading a little book to my two-year-old when my second-oldest daughter pointed out something strange to me. Let me see if you can guess what it is. Here is the picture in question:
Do you see it? Or, more to the point, NOT see it? It is a common Jersey Cow, lovely in its own right, with its adorable little calf there beside it. All is well so far. But take a gander at this other photo of a Jersey Cow.
NOW do you see it? The first picture…the one in the educational children’s book…there is no veiny, hangy-downy, milk-producing, teat sprouting UDDER.
I mean, honestly.
Honestly!
Obviously the sight of a giant udder would be too scandalous for the tender eyes of a child. Obviously such a thing is worthy of the most severe censorship. Obviously nightmares featuring humongous pink mammary glands dancing about on their teats would haunt the minds of toddlers everywhere if they were subjected to such an abhorrent sight.
Actually, I think those same nightmares are called daydreams for the average teenaged male human. But I digress.
Where there should be a life-sustaining piece of anatomy, there is instead tight, smooth skin. The child reading the book will not be disturbed by any puzzlement concerning the function of the organ, and the parent will be spared the mental trauma of having to explain said organ’s function. Peace will reign.
Peace, and ignorance.
Where am I going with this? I’m not really sure. Frankly, there are so many delightful directions into which I could veer with this rant that I’m overwhelmed. But I’ll say this:
I think the cow in the original photo does, indeed, have an udder. The fact is, she is a young cow. Her udder is undeveloped as of yet. She is herself calf-less. She is not the mama to the calf in the photo. She is perhaps his babysitter, or his nubile and comely older sister. In any case, she was viewed as more suitable for photographing.
I feel it is my duty to take up the cause of mama bovines everywhere and protest this prejudice. There is nothing…nothing…offensive about the equipment by which milk is produced. By presenting this picture to children as the ideal appearance for a mother cow, they are setting the stage for an entire generation to be unaccepting of reality and continually chasing after youth as the standard of perfection.
Wait. Am I talking about cows? Or am I talking about this?
This, which happens to be right at a young child’s eye level in just about every store I have been in. In which the model just happens to be wearing not much more than a bunch of necklaces.
But hey, that’s okay. Because, you know…she’s purdy. And young. And don’t forget smooth-skinned. And air-brushed beyond reason.
And reality? God forbid reality should intrude upon our consciences.
Posted in rants
