Humans can be very quick to judge one another, often without knowing the whole story or having a clear idea of a given situation. I hope this story helps us think before we judge. It all started a few weeks ago, when a woman named Heather Whitten posted a picture of her 1-year-old son, Fox, and her husband, Thomas online. But it wasn’t “any” photo. In it, both husband and son are naked, with little Fox sitting on his dad’s lap under a pouring shower. The photo was met with terribly hateful comments, and was eventually even banned from Facebook. However, it seemed few looked beyond the ‘nakedness’ to understand the heartbreaking story behind the powerful image. Now Heather has decided to clarify it, and tell the full story behind the controversial shot.
This is the image that Heather posted on Facebook. At first glance, there’s little you can really understand about it. But on this day, Fox was suffering from salmonella poisoning. The 1-year-old was terribly sick and had a high fever. That’s when Thomas took him to the shower to keep his fever down and comfort him.
When Heather saw this beautiful love between father and son, she picked up her camera and decided to take a picture to immortalize the moment that to her represented unconditional love and passion. But after sharing this picture on Facebook, many from the online community had very negative comments to make, and Heather had to endure a barrage of hateful comments. Hours later, her photo was removed by Facebook.
So Heather decided to repost the picture- this time along with a powerful letter that I really think everybody should read.
“I was just overwhelmed with the scene in front of me. This man. This husband and partner and father. He was so patient and so loving and so strong with our tiny son in his lap. His whispers of reassurance to Fox, that he would be ok and that Thomas would take care of him were so steady and so honest.“
“I was taken aback by how many people missed the story or didn’t even look past the nudity to find the story. They were just hung up on them both being nude and being in the shower. I had crossed a line. It was too intimate. It shouldn’t be shared publicly. But, I disagree.”
“You may never take images of your family like I do… you may never share images of your family like I do. But, that doesn’t give you the right to silence my voice. To take away my right to share our experiences in an uncensored way. There is nothing sexual or exploitative about this image. There aren’t even any “private parts” showing.”
So far Heather’s post has been shared by over 30,000 people and has received over 140,000 likes.
I think Heather’s message is extremely well-written, and very powerful. Please share if you agree!
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