Jan you wrote:
"I'm amazed that so many of the women that won't make an emotional commitment
to natural childbirth or to breastfeeding are yet the same women that make a
commitment to working out or running marathons or other things that involve
pain....."

Yes, but the question that all breastfeeding advocates have to ask is, "Why?"
 One should not have to make an emotional committment to a biological event.
Do we make an emotional committment to sweat, to cry, to eat, to breathe?
These are natural body functions.  Do we make an emotional committment to
menstruate? Childbirth and breastfeeding is female biology.  Do we make
emotional committments to have sex (not speaking about the relationship
itself but the act)?  Do we time it, institutionalize it, monitor it, test
it?  Nope or at least it is not commonly done.  Would sex happen if we timed
it?  Would it happen if it could only be done in an institution with a
medical staff watching to make sure we don't die or have a heart attack?
People do die while having sex--very dangerous activity.  Would it happen if
we made people follow the "stages" of sex?  Would it happen if we had
monitors to show the strength of the orgasm.  Hey, can't argue with the
monitor!  Would it happen, if we had people to assist us?

The other point I want to make is that in a "good" and "just" society
breastfeeding would not have any competition.  There would be no need to make
a commitment because the society is committed to mothers and babies.
Currently mothers have to be emotionally committed because our society
provides an alternative to our biology.  That alternative has an industry
that spends billions on "social marketing."  It has gotten into the psyche of
every man, woman, and child in this society.  It fills us full of doubt and
disbelief.  Women should not have to make an emotional investment.  It is our
society and our institutions that have to make the emotional investment.
Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html