>        Would someone please explain to me what's the big deal about whether
>you write breastfeeding with or without a space or a hyphen?


Anna, to me the difference is subtle, but with important implications.
With breast feeding, there is the implication that "breast" is one way of
feeding, and being an adjective it is of lesser importance than the noun,
"feeding."  There can be breast feeding, bottle feeding, formula feeding,
breastmilk feeding, spoon feeding, self feeding, etc.

By spacing the breast from the feeding there is a separateness implied.
Whereas with breastfeeding there is an implied integration of the breast
and the feeding. And the experience of breastfeeding a baby is far beyond
feeding a baby with a breast. Breastfeeding carries this broader connotation.

It's like homemaker.  If it were home maker, there would be an entirely
different idea implied. The latter would be a person who makes a home.  The
former carries a myriad of responsibilities and understood relationships.

Many times in the English language (perhaps in others too)we will have two
words for a while, then, when certain intrinsic values are understood, the
words become one. The subject/object nature of English causes speakers of
the language to see distance between separate words.

For example, long ago there were holes in the walls of a house for the wind
to blow through. They were called wind holes.  Later, even though they were
covered, they became windholes, then windows. Window conveys its own
essence without thinking about holes or wind.

Another more current example is fast food.  First we had fast food
restaurants. Now that the concept is solidified to mean a given experience
it is becoming fastfood restaurant, with the implied meaning of "wonderful,
nutritious, quick, always tasting the same, kids will eat it, don't think
about it" :) kind of place to assuage one's hunger temporarily.

Some people have posted on Lactnet that at one time in human history,
breastfeeding was referred to as "feeding the baby." But some unfortunate
trends were begun, and now we must be more specific for a few generations.
Meanwhile, breastfeeding is closer to the experience than breast feeding.
We have talked about "nursing" but that has its problems too.  So we are
calling it breastfeeding in hopes that it will come into common usage (and
common experience) and will again carry the concept of nurturing the child.

This is how I see it.

Patricia Gima, Lactationconsultant (?)
Milwaukee

















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