dear rita,

having never gotten up to speed on the newer star trek shows, i wasn't aware
of the various bf incidents you mention, but your summary was not surprising
to me. the producers show the "good guys" as detached, non-breastfeeding
parents, and the "bad guys" (see, i DO know how to use the shift key) as
breastfeeding because it reflects a weird cultural norm. my midwife friend
refers to this phenomenon as an explanation of why most breastfeeding mothers
are white, middle-class, educated persons. breastfeeding is seen as
animalistic and non-scientific, and bottlefeeding is seen as more advanced.
only when breastfeeding is truly the cultural norm for what is considered the
mainstream class worth emulating, will other groups take up this behavior.

to summarize, as my hispanic friend says, these girls don't want to do what
their grandmothers did! and i won't even begin to get into the feminist
aspects of the star trek plots!

carol brussel