Loretta posed the question of how to get Bill Gates or other philanthropic
foundations interested in funding breastfeeding and issues of lactation.

I have heard a lot about the book "Pink Ribbons, Inc" which looks at the
corporate sponsorship of the anti-breast cancer campaign (I have not read
the book however).  In the reviews I read, it noted that breast cancer only
became considered for corporate sponsorship, once the breast cancer people
were able to educate and move the general public beyond the idea that the
women themselves had someone done something to cause the cancer.  Once the
cancer became blameless, then the disease is "free of baggage" and corporate
sponsors can become involved with taking the chance of being associated with
the disease, (once it is not a controversial or blame-laden disease).  The
same applies to AIDS funding - only now that public opinion has moved beyond
seeing AIDS as the "gay-disease that they brought upon themselves" can
corporate American jump on the "cure for AIDS" bandwagon.

If we want to get similar support and funding for breastfeeding, we must
work even harder to get women and the general public to be aware of and
understand how poorly supported women are when they are breastfeeding - and
never promote or prop up the idea that "any woman could breastfeed if she
just tried hard enough" (and thus conversely implying that the women who
failed didn't want it bad enough or try hard enough).

Janice Reynolds
Nokomis, Saskatchewan, Canada


-----Original Message-----
From: Lactation Information and Discussion 
On Behalf Of Loretta Porta
Subject: Re: what is wrong with this picture?

I have been pondering for some time about how we can get Bill Gates and the 
Gates Foundation interested in the issues of lactation.

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