Magda Sachs wrote: "And I think that one of the major groups who has not
been on-board with breastfeeding advocacy is feminists (do they still exist
in the USA? I am not sure.) I can't see them coming on board for health-so
you are talking about breaking current partnerships with nothing to replace
them."
Valerie McClain wrote: "Silence also extends to the patenting of human milk
components. One would think that this patenting would be a cause for
concern, alarm, and even protest to the US Government. But silence
surrounds this issue. So one wonders whether the silence denotes fear of a
powerful industry or whether it means that the breastfeeding community has
ties to the very industry it despises."
No time this morning for anything other than three comments:
1. There are multiple definitions of and ways of being a "feminist,"
therefore effective partnership-seeking will not be one-size-fits all.
2. There are multiple definitions of and ways of being a "breastfeeding
advocate." We need voices speaking out about premature babies, donor milk
banking, mother-to-mother support, peer counseling, ethical marketing of
infant formula, cultural issues and cultural competence, global issues,
local issues, Baby Friendly Hospitals, the role of doulas, legislation
issues, medications, nurslings and mothers with special needs,
psychological issues, environmental impacts, research issues, education on
breastfeeding (from kindergarten to medical school), the contamination,
contents, and missing ingredients of artificial substitutes for human milk
(including the use of genetically modified organisms and other inadequately
tested ingredients), workplace issues, etc., etc., etc. The decision to
focus broadly or narrowly is up to the individual advocate--and is likely
to change over time. How to make the best use of individual talents and
knowledge is for the individual to decide--and that decision is likely to
change over time. If a breastfeeding supporter or advocate (by any
definition) emphasizes one or two areas to a greater degree than the many
others, it does not likely to mean that she (or he) fails to recognize the
importance of the entire picture or that he or she has ulterior motives
that are incompatible with breastfeeding advocacy. It is far more likely to
mean that, in recognition of our limited time and energy, the supporter or
advocate has chosen to speak out where she feels she can most effectively
do so. We can't do it all individually, but we can do it all together. Most
of us, in my experience and in spite of any "specialties", work very hard
to "keep up" broadly simply because the mothers we help need us to do so.
Those of us who have developed expertise in a particular area, in my
experience, are generous in sharing that expertise in a way that helps all
of us do that broad "keeping up" much better than we could have done
otherwise. We are all in this together. Each piece of the picture is
important; each pair of hands, thoughtful mind, and loving heart is needed
to do this hard work.
3. One of my favorite articles is "Breastfeeding: A feminist issue" by
Penny Van Esterik of WABA. It can be read online at:
http://www.aleitamento.org.br/ingles/acsheet4.htm
Yours truly as a feminist (in the US), breastfeeding advocate, and many
other things, too,
Cynthia
Cynthia Good Mojab, MS clinical psychology, IBCLC, RLC
Ammawell
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web site: http://home.attbi.com/~ammawell
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