After being "No Mail" for a number of months it is good to be back!
I went to the "Salon" web-site and was horrified by what I read. I've
attached the letter I wrote to their editors.
Kirsten Clary, RNC
I read with interest your article on the young mother whose baby died
from failure to thrive. I was pleased to read the comments of Dr.
Ruth Lawrence And Dr. Richard Aubry, and as a breastfeeding educator
and a Registered nurse whose job it is to support and educate military
parents, I agree whole-heartedly with their opinion on this very sad
case. I did get the sense you were trying to find a reason to portray
breastfeeding as a potentially dangerous practice, but overall I found
your coverage, on the most part, to be fair and unbiased...until I
went to the links after your article.
The articles Got Milk? and Crème Booblee were degrading and
patronizing to women. The illustration showing a woman's head on a
cow's body was offensive. Ms. Frosts stated in Got Milk: "It breaks
with the fiction that professional women are androgynous, that we
don't have sex. It exposes us as sexual, physical, leaking human
beings." Actually, breastfeeding and pumping at work do the exact
opposite. With the advent of our formula-feeding society our breasts
have been "reduced" to that of sexual object only. The breasts'
primary function is to nourish our children. To suggest that pumping
her breasts at work causes a woman to be sexualized does not make
sense. My work with breastfeeding mothers (90% are full-time employed
active duty women) has illustrated profoundly the dignity and strength
of a woman willing to overcome social stigma in order to provide the
best nutrition for her child. These women are all competent,
effective individuals who demand of their co-workers respect for their
dual roles of mother and professional. Sure, many of them have been
faced with some of the challenges mentioned by Ms. Frost - the
inability to find a comfortable place to pump, the time element
involved etc., but they have all expressed the belief that to continue
the breastfeeding relationship with their child is well worth the
inconveniences they encounter. Many large companies are now providing
women with services of board certified lactation consultants, and
comfortable, dignified rooms in which to pump. I do not believe these
companies came up with the idea for this wonderful benefit on their
own. It was the result of women refusing to accept this all-important
aspect of their gender as being something embarrassing and somehow
indecent...and guess what? These companies have reaped huge financial
rewards for supporting this basic human, female function.
The fact that it is women who degrade one of the most important
contributions to human society, the nurturing and feeding of future
generations, is very troubling to me. When will we learn that every
aspect of being a woman is a strength, not a weakness?
There is nothing "cow like" about providing the nutrition nature meant
for our babies. What is "cow-like" is feeding cow's milk to human
babies.
Kirsten Clary, RNC
Mother
Family Advocacy Nurse Specialist
Breastfeeding Educator
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