The photo is in the video above and shown below and is semi-NSFW
I don’t watch Modern Family (on ABC, it was recently renewed for a second season) and am not that familiar with actress Julie Bowen, 40. I’ve seen her at events and I remember seeing some impressive bikini photos of her taken a couple of months ago and thinking “wow, she just had a baby.” Bowen has twin boys actually, John and Gus, and they’re already a year old this month. She also has an older son, Oliver, three, with her husband of five years, software developer Scott Phillips.
On the George Lopez show this week Bowen shared a really cute photo of her boys breastfeeding as tiny babies! She explained that she tried to show it on The View but was told it wasn’t allowed. There will be plenty of people who comment that she should put it away, but I love this picture and am so glad she shared it. Bowen explained that she got in shape after the babies by running a lot and that breastfeeding sucked “the fat right out” of her. She surely exercised her ass off to get that great figure too.
Modern Family’ mom Julie Bowen visited ‘Lopez Tonight’ Monday, where she told George Lopez all about how she nurses her twin boys, John and Gus, who just turned 1. Bowen, 40, said she lets the boys suckle at the same time and showed a picture (scroll down to see).
“It’s like two little liposuction machines on you,” she said. “They suck the fat out of you. They call it the ‘double football hold.’ You hold one here, and here [gesturing to her breasts], like two footballs… They’re doing God’s work right there, helping me return to my birth weight.”
[From The Huffington Post]
This picture isn’t shocking or provocative and just shows two sweet newborns nursing. It makes me miss that time when my son was so little. Lopez joked that one of the babies was classy because he had his pinky out. He quipped “those kids get around” and showed photoshopped pictures of them at the oil spill, on Lady and The Tramp eating spaghetti, having some KFC and munching on the Kardashians’ heads.
Bowen explained that she loved going to work because it was relaxing and people bring her food and do her hair. At home she said she was bombarded with poop. When Lopez asked her the strangest place she’d ever found poop, she said “probably on the back of the dog.”
She also told a story about how she went hiking with a mom’s group and her three year old, who had to poop while they were out. Her son was going number two outside when she realized she didn’t have any wipes with her. She tried to use an empty bag of goldfish snacks to wipe him with, which was woefully inadequate. Another mom took pity on her and handed her a wipe, asking “you’re the mom from Modern Family aren’t you?” Bowen is awesome and I’m sure we’ll be covering her more in the future.
‘Modern Family’ is one of the best written comedies on TV at this time. You really should watch it if you get a chance. The actors are great. A little gem I hope sticks around.
Ewwww tmi
aaaw, i love modern family
Breastfeeding is one of the most natural and beautiful things a woman can do. Kudos to Julie for sharing this, and while I’m sure she probably exercised a ton, breastfeeding does actually help a woman lose weight after birth.
/lactivist out.
I like Modern Family too! I didn’t know Julie Bowen was such a deft comedienne, I had always seen her in more dramatic roles, but she’s so funny on that show.
I liked her on Lost too.
I think women need to stop sexualizing breasts if they expect society at large to do so. Breastfeeding is just a part of life, and there’s nothing dirty or gross about it.
I find it odd that our society averts their eyes in disgust from a woman discreetly breastfeeding in public, but will scream “puritan!” at anyone who objects to overt sexuality on television, around children, or in public.
Good on her for breastfeeding TWO at once. That, by the way, is probably why she got her bikini body back so fast.
I don’t necessarily need to WATCH someone breastfeeding, but how anyone can find that gross given how much we tolerate in America is beyond me.
TMI!!!???
We analyze every inch of celebrity bodies, hear rumors about gross diets and sexual habits, and this is tmi?
Feeding babies is what breasts are for! And it’s one of the greatest pleasures in life,really…
This is a great photo- wish I had one that looked so good! I don’t know this actress, but she seems like a great mom, and she looks incredible!
BF does get the weight off…I lost 70 lbs, and weigh less now than I did before the kids!
I loved breastfeeding, but it didn’t help me lose any weight. I had to quit simple carbs to lose weight well after I was done breastfeeding. I love the picture of Julie breastfeeding, but I’m sure there will be plenty of negative comments about it.
that show is so cute. tmi on the pic howev.
interesting how the picture is tmi, but when we see kim kardashian with a bikini top on (and basically showing the same amount of skin) it is ok.
Good for her. Breastfeeding is wonderful for kids – and moms – thanks to her for helping people to understand this.
Ok, I believe that breastfeeding is private. Not something you should show the world. Yes it’s amazing and wonderful, and I breastfed my children. I just don’t think it’s something to be posting pictures about like “I’m so wonderful”…any woman who chooses to have a baby and take excellent care of that baby in the best way they can is amazing breastfeeding or not.
As one who could never get the hang of breastfeeding, I applaud Julie Bowen for doing two at once.
I find the attitude towards women breastfeeding in public to be quite pathetic. I’m not advocating whipping it out inappropriately.
As for not being able to show this picture on The View. Are you kidding me? A show supposedly for women, hosted solely (99.9% of the time) by women aren’t comfortable showing a picture of breastfeeding? Oh that’s right, this is the show that allows Elizabeth to slam a victim of stalking for her wardrobe on a dance show (and despite knowing what she was going to say not one of her co-hosts called her out) on the network that wouldn’t allow the Lane Bryant lingerie ad during a show that showed Niecy Nash’s giggly bits in almost the same attire.
1) I’m 100% sure this is because I don’t have kids, and I do plan on breastfeeding when I do, but looking at that picture kinda weirds me out. I agree breastfeeding is a beautiful thing but I think I would keep a picture like that private. Before another person says I’m sexualizing breasts or somehow knocking breastfeeding, I just think it’s an intimate thing with your child that you should cherish for yourself, you know? I guess what I mean is that yes, showing a pic of any celeb in a tube top shows just as much skin. What weirds me out is seeing something deeply personal like this.. I dunno. I’m not necessarily saying she shouldn’t have shown it, and good for her for raising BF awareness, I’m sure most actresses bottle feed to try to combat sagginess.. whatever. Just my take.
2) Why is her bikini body impressive, but that chick from Real Housewives of (insert city) always gets criticized for hers? They both have similar bodies imo, and they’re both strange ones. The RH one is worse, but I guess I’m just not seeing the distinction that makes Julie’s impressive, besides the fact that obviously she’s a better person.
I’m laughing at the tmi comments. Nobody has a problem with boobs, unless they are actually being used for their purpose. Love the picture and it really isn’t showing any more than the celebs and famewhores of the world, so I just don’t see the problem. Good for her for breastfeeding two babies!
Before another person says I’m sexualizing breasts or somehow knocking breastfeeding, I just think it’s an intimate thing with your child that you should cherish for yourself, you know?
I know you don’t have kids, so not bashing you, but this attitude is one reason the breastfeeding rates in the US are so low. Babies need to be fed and when women get the message that breastfeeding is “private” or needs to happen behind closed doors, it results in early weaning. Mothers are out in the world every day and they need to feel comfortable with breastfeeding and feeding the baby where they are at the moment. Otherwise, it won’t work because women feel isolated and switch to bottles. Her raising awareness is really important because it helps in the effort to normalize breastfeeding for what it is, feeding a baby.
@ Schnauzers!- I agree, I couldn’t have said it better.
Good for her! I’ve taken pictures of my kids breastfeeding from my perspective too, because I always want to remember that. And I think it’s great that she shared it.
And Modern Family is great!
Keiser, she was also on Boston Legal.
@Jess
I never thought of doing that….maybe I should, and soon because the little guy is starting to lose interest. It really is a special time of life.
OK, getting sappy now…
And I think the pic is sweet.
I’d actually like to see more pictures like these in the public sphere. My hope would be that the more pictures of the natural act of breastfeeding that people are exposed to, the increased likelihood of a decrease in the overall sexualization of the female form, particularly, the breasts.
As long as any stigma exists surrounding the act of breastfeeding, there will be an extra layer of stress for new mothers and their babies. Many infants have issues with bottle-feeding (being unable to digest some of the milk formulations, for example). It’s stressful enough to be a new mom with a young baby. Their shouldn’t be any shame associated with breastfeeding your child in public or even showing photos of it.
yup, that’s how I did it with my twin boys! But believe me it’s tough getting everyone settled in in that position , you need the daddy’s help! Plus you can only really do it when they are tiny because a few months later, they each want to do their own thing. 😀
PS: Hate how women say that breast-feeding sucked the fat out!! IT’S NOT TRUE!!! 🙁 Well, not for me anyways, breast-feeding had me hungry all the time! 😀
I originally wrote this paragraph to include in this story, but deleted it as I didn’t want to get too incensed about this topic. Here it is, and it’s similar to what many of you are saying about societal acceptance of breastfeeding:
“Last year, Facebook was censoring photos of moms breastfeeding and I joined a group called “Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene.” By sharing photos, people hope to raise acceptance of nursing rather than provoke those that think it should be done in secrecy. Of course we should cover up and do it discreetly, but we shouldn’t have to go to a separate room to feed our babies. Once a woman gave me the evil eye for nursing my then four month old in a restaurant bathroom! How are attitudes like that supposed to encourage moms?”
I breastfed both of my kids and if there were other people around, I would cover myself with a baby blanket because it seemed to make others uncomfortable. Looking back now, I think that it’s silly people have such hangups about it….it’s a healthy natural thing.
I dont watch the show and she seems OK but Im sorry,I donot find her body impressive at all-she looks like a muscular boy and is completely sexless..
I am amazed that this is a body that any woman would want to aspire too…..
Theres nothing more appealing than a toned feminine body and thats not what she has…
Yay for breastfeeding!
Breasts are for feeding, and babies need to be fed. Sure, it’s a personal bonding experience for mom and baby, but when it comes down to it – so is bottlefeeding.
So I call bull on those who say it is ‘tmi’ to see a woman breastfeeding, then say it isn’t because you are sexualizing the breasts.
Personally, I feel glorifying bottlefeeding on television to be a lot more offensive.
Okay, I know this gets volatile for people, but the argument I hear that just drives me nuts about breastfeeding is the idea that it’s a “private, personal” moment.
No it’s not.
It’s a baby…eating. That’s not private. It’s not personal. It’s a necessary function of growth and nutrition. The idea of feeding a baby with a bottle is not met with “ew, that’s a bodily function that’s private. Go feed your kid in the public toilet.” Breastfeeding is the SAME thing.
It can be a beautiful bonding moment, but not because a breast is involved. Nourishing your child, whether the nipple is made of a polymer or flesh, is a beautiful bonding experience for both the child and the person feeding him or her.
Relegating breastfeeding mothers to a toilet to feed their children because a breast is involved is insanity.
Discreet breastfeeding in public just shouldn’t be a problem for people, and seeing a photo like the one above shouldn’t bother anyone who isn’t bothered by cleavage on the red carpet.
That’s my two pennies.
Sorry, I’m in the minority here. Yes, its part of life and “natural” and yes, her breasts are nice, but this is not something I need or want to see. Child birth is “natural” and a part of life also, but dont need to see any part of that also. Sorry, people who dont have kids don’t want to see or know about these things. Its just the way it is.
It IS TMI.
Comparing this to someone in a bikini top is ridiculous – it is NOT the same thing at all.
I thought it was sweet. I was actually breastfeeding when I first opened the link this morning, so clearly, I am a little biased.
the photo of the babies nursing on the kardashian’s heads is genius!
Aspen, that was so well said! I don’t have kids yet myself but I feel strongly that breast feeding needs to be shown realistically to help break down the “TMI” factor so many people feel. I do understand, it’s not like most people want to see your kid actually being born, so maybe they wouldn’t want to see it being fed. But we make no objection to seeing baby animals nursing from their moms, so why should humans be any different? In terms of what kids can see on tv and in the media, I would MUCH prefer my little sisters see a set of twins chowing down naturally versus basically anything that MTV, VH1, or E airs. Although those shows are my guilty pleasure, I confess!
God, I hated her on Lost. That picture is kind of awesome though.
I love Modern Family! I just started watching a few months ago, it’s really funny.
I don’t have issues with it having to be private in every day life, but it does seem a little odd to me for her to be trying to get the photo on TV. I can’t say I would feel comfortable doing that, but she must be, so OK!
The photoshopped ones are funny.
People who don’t have children or don’t wish to have children still have to share society with children.
Deal.
The pics done to her babies are awful and I would be highly upset. It’s okay for dogs, cats, cows and tons of other animals to nurse their mom for nutrition but not humans. All I can picture is a baby nursing a cow and just how unnatural is that crap. Nursing your child to provide nurishment is a mothers right..
A society sexualizing breasts doesn’t weird anybody out, but seeing a rendering of breasts DOING WHAT THEY WERE MADE FOR gives people the heebie-jeebies.
I will never understand idiots.
I didn’t BF my daughter b/c I need to be on meds that I can’t BF with. However, I do feel strongly that women should be able to BF their babies in public – discreetly. You should be able to BF on a park bench, in the mall, at a restaurant, etc. And I’ve never seen any woman be anything but discreet with the exception of Maggie Glyhenhaal’s nasty nip shot a few years ago.
However, all of you complaining about sexualizing breasts are way off base. Breasts are for feeding babies, but they also are a point of sexual interest – they’re supposed to be! And there’s nothing wrong with that! I don’t consistently wear a supportive bra so that my breasts will look nice to a BFing baby – I wear support so they look hot to me and my husband!!! Guess what – penises are for making babies and peeing, but I bet you men don’t care if we sexualize them a little!
Gorgeous! And NORMAL. I hate it when people view breastfeeding as something aberrant.
It is very possible to breastfeed in public discreetly and no it doesn’t always involve a blanket. In fact, sometimes the blanket brings more attention to what is happening under it and some children (read: every single one of my children) will not tolerate a blanket over their head while they are eating. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t want one either.
And good for her for breastfeeding twins.
Love Modern Family – Great Show. Julie’s a little type A but it fits into the show alright. (I’m not just basing the Type A reference on MF but other shows I’ve seen her in also.)
The breast feeding doesn’t bother me but I think people who have breast fed enjoy the pictures more that people that haven’t.
I am very pro-breastfeeding, and I breastfed both of my kids until they were around three-years-old (didn’t plan to nurse them that long, but came to understand the whole process better when it was actually happening and that’s how long everyone was comfortable with it in my family). Anyway – in spite of my personal beliefs and choice to breastfeed, I have noticed some mothers when breastfeeding completely expose their breasts before, during, and after their baby nurses. I do not believe it is necessary – or tactful – to do that.
It is quite easy to nurse your baby in such a way that anyone around the two of you will not feel uncomfortable (and – with a little practice – will not even be aware that you’re doing it).
I would feel extremely uncomfortable around the women who would untuck their blouses and then proceed to unbutton it completely – from the top down – completely remove the breasts from a bra (if wearing one) – and then go and pick up the baby and place at one breast – leaving the other one completely exposed, and just act like nothing unusual is happening as they continue to sit across from me. THAT – bothered me when it happened.
If I happened to be visiting a mother in, say, Africa – and she and most of the rest of the women there did not wear tops – then that would be a totally different story. In that culture, it would be natural and expected. Here in the U.S. – women wear tops unless they are alone or with immediate family or at a sectioned off Nudist colony. (I believe that there is a law against public toplessness for women in the U.S. So it is not expected to be seen here and made me quite uncomfortable.)
Aw- really awesome of the show not to be prudes ad see it for what it is– babies eating!
Like Aspen wrote above, I have to laugh at people claiming breastfeeding is something that should remain ‘private’. I breastfed my son and I can tell you, there is no reason I or he should stay in seclusion for MONTHS just to protect your delicate sensibilities. He had to eat, I fed him. And he got the best, not powdered junk just because that way no one would be offended. And no, I didn’t cover up either. I am not going to make my poor baby and myself overheat just to hide under a blanket because someone else has oversexualized something as normal as feeding a child.
As for the bit about how some ‘completely expose their breasts” I never purposely did that, but as nursing mothers know, when you are feeding a baby that is 8 months and up, sometimes they will randomly pop off to peek around, but not be finished. It happens. Not everyone is purposely trying to flash you, but if you don’t like it, don’t STARE. 😛
I agree that its natural and whatnot BUT I do not want to see your bare breasts. I dont see why some breast feeding mothers refuse to cover up-ahem #41- its just as uncomfortable for me to be FORCED to look at your breast as it is for you to be covered up. Oh Im not STARING its just hard not to notice a woman with her boob out with a kid latched on to the end of it. All Im saying is: if you need to feed your baby in public, please respect others and cover your breasts. You dont have to hide in the restroom or car just cover your ta’s.
I like her boobs. Just saying
@Jen, thank you@! I was trying to remember what I’d seen her on, and you saved me a trip to IMDB! I loved her on Boston Legal!
I find it very strange that the View wouldn’t show this picture. It’s just a couple of babies eating! And isn’t the audience for this show entirely made up of women?
“Nobody has a problem with boobs, unless they are actually being used for their purpose”
How true.
Personally, I didn’t want anyone to see me breastfeeding and I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.
But I don’t mind others. It’s a shame it’s such a big deal. It’s horrible that the View wouldn’t show it. That’s just an awful show all around.
I’m not yet a mother, so when I notice a woman breastfeeding in public, I am sure I look at first and then look away – why? Because you don’t see it often enough for it to be ordinary and probably because I’m a tad bit curious. I do think that you should at least attempt some sort of modesty when in public, but if your baby is hungry, do your business.
I’ve had the opposite happen twice and both times I would have LOVED ti if the mom had done something different. In one case, the mother got up from a large birthday dinner, pumped and came back to the table to pour her milk into a bottle and feed the baby (all the while I’m eating across from her and she has spilled breastmilk 12″ from my dinner. The other a new mom showed up at a smallish party we were hosting at our new home and she and another girl she was close to asked to sit in another room so she could feed. Since she had just arrive, I showed her the room and continued chatting with the door closed – suddenly she looked at me and said something to the effect of, “um, I’m going to FEED MY BABY NOW, okay?” while looking at the door. An hour later the two girls rejoined the party.
In both cases, maybe it was a situation where the ladies ween’t comfortable with BF in public but both ended up alienating others or excluding themselves as a result.
As for Julie Bowen, I love her. She was the lead lady on a show from a few years ago “Ed” about an attorney who buys a bowling alley in a tiny town (before Boston Legal and Lost) – As for the picture of her breastfeeding, I too agree that it was ironic they wouldn’t show it on a female aimed show but would on George Lopez! Hilarious! Another reason why cable TV is beginning to make it’s mark on networks.
And to beat a dead horse, I can’t wait to watch Conan on cable, where he can be a total nutjob and stop censoring his quirky sense of humor!
Awww! Adorable! Good for her. Makes me love her even more and despise the View with a degree I didn’t think possible.
Breasts are sexual. Period. Straight men and gay gals like breasts in a sexual way. They like to play with them, touch them, and do all sorts of other things with them. Stop pretending like breasts aren’t sexual things, because they are. It’s part of the reason why your husbands/boyfriends/wives/girlfriends are attracted to you.
A woman in a bikini is a completely different thing. Whoever said that knows it too. A tube top covers more than most women who breastfeed do.
There is nothing shameful about breastfeeding in the slightest. But we have cultural norms that don’t go along with breastfeeding in public.
Farting, peeing, pooping and belching are all natural things too. Do we do those in public? No. And if we do we get arrested or ridiculed. Having sex is a natural thing. We get arrested for doing that in public too too. Being nude? Totally natural state. We can only do it in sanctioned areas. Masturbating is healthy and normal. Do you do that in public?
Breastfeeding, in my opinion, is in one of those categories. A breast is there for two reasons. To feed a child when it comes and to attract a male. Whether you like it or not, breasts have been, and always will be, a sexualized part of a woman’s body. And there is nothing wrong with that. It is normal, healthy and natural for a straight guy (or gay gal) to be attracted to breasts.
Now, my mom breastfed each of my siblings and me and I plan on doing it when I have children. When it got hot, my mom brought a light silk scarf with her to cover me and her breast. She didn’t get hot. She was modest about it-not an exhibitionist.
No one wants to see your breasts and no one wants to see you feeding your child. The reason why people stare is because you are making everyone uncomfortable. Just the same as if someone were pooping in a corner.
Oh and can I just say that I didn’t lose a single pound breastfeeding. I wish I was one of the lucky ones that did.