In some countries where baby-friendly communities are being launched, the
men are being actively enlisted as helpers, to acknowledge the fact that
healthy feeding practices are not simply the responsibility of the women in
the community, but of the entire community.
In these places, women may well rule in the domain of childbirth (I don't
know), but their breasts are not men's playthings, they are organs for
feeding babies, as indeed they are intended to be everywhere.

I would be troubled if I feared that my husband might take action to prevent
another man from touching my breasts or indeed my genitals, no matter what.
I might feel that he saw certain parts of my body in a proprietary way, and
for me that would confer nothing positive.  As a corollary, I do not
tolerate it if someone is treated with disrespect by any health care
practitioner, regardless of which (if any) body part is involved.

If I were about to have heart surgery, for example, how would the surgeon
manage without at least brushing up against my breasts?  Or even gall
bladder surgery?    Would I care if that surgeon were a man?  I would not.
If I were hemorrhaging vaginally for any reason, would I care that the best
qualified person to help me then and there, had a penis under his clothes?
Unless he planned somehow to use it to 'treat' my medical problem, I would
not.
When I am choosing a health care practitioner, gender is not high up on my
list of qualifiers.  I know men who are fine midwives, and I know plenty of
ghastly midwives who have ovaries, uteri, and mammae.  The same goes for
doctors.

When looking for a peer counselor, by definition I want someone who has
breastfed their own children.  If I meet a man who has done so, I'd be
willing to bet he is among the elite of his group, and I might well accept
his help.

I believe it is regulation procedure here to have a 'chaperone' present at
all vaginal exams by ob/gyns in the hospital if the woman doesn't have
someone of her choice accompanying her, and over 50% of our ob/gyns are
women.  They use chaperones too.  We have a case pending against one of our
docs, involving several accusations of improper behavior in connection with
gynecologic exams.  These cases all stem from the time before our current
regulations took effect.  I think the regs. are national guidelines.

not tongue in cheek,
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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