I have not read this book, but saw the draft, and wasn't too keen on
what I saw then.
Susan breastfed her children, with the help of an NMAA Counsellor!

Maybe she is being 'fashionable' , maybe expressing the
disappointments in her own life. It seems (IMHO) that many
'professional' women are very shocked by the changes to their lives
that occur after having  children.  After years of having a very
organised and successful business life, they are faced with the
realities of motherhood. This 'loss of control' is the thing that
many women seem to find the hardest to cope with, and it is often
something that women mention to me when they see me for parenting or
breastfeeding problems.
I suppose a lot of the negativity women feel when they become parents
stems from the changes in levels of independence, and maybe having
their expectations of parenthood shattered by reality. The
sterotypical vision of motherhood (barefoot and pregnant in the
kitchen), which many of these women may have spurned for much of
their lives, may mean that adjusting to a parental role is hard for
them. Maybe they fear that they will become 'just housewives' like
the women that they have avoided becoming in their professional
lives. Joining groups such as LLL or NMAA may seem to them as
'accepting the role of the mother' which they have been
avoiding for all this time. Trying to create a new niche for
themselves in society, especially one which doesn't value child
rearing or parental roles, is a hard thing to do. If things go wrong
in our lives, or our expectations are not met, it is often easier to
'blame the messenger' or strike back at society, rather than
examining our own situation and problem solving.
It is always sad when personal disappointment or disillusionment is
reflected upon the whole of society, and when others are blamed for
the losses that individuals experience. We all have a way of 'crying
for help', unfortunately, a book is a very public way of doing it.

I look forward to reading a book about an angry smoker, who had
non-smoking information 'pushed at them', became a social outcast
because they smoked, found the cough related to quitting smoking too
terrible to bear, and thinks the Quit Campaign is a plot to make us
all conform to an unattainable perfect world. :)

 Susan  Maushart has also written an excellent and very
perceptive book about the Australian Aborigines in government
institutions earlier this century. In person, she is a personable,
intelligent and friendly lady (and a friend of my husband's!! ).

Fiona


Fiona Coombes MBBS IBCLC               [log in to unmask]
Lactation Consultant, Family Physician
Perth Western Australia