>Really good discussion.  No need to cut and paste using www.TinyUrl.com
>Judy Ritchie
>
>
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/08/31/DI2007083
>100337.html
>
>http://tinyurl.com/3dfacp


Thanks - very interesting, indeed.

Depressingly, the *same arguments* have come up in the UK in response 
to the current campaign (fronted by leading child health 
organisations and advocacy groups) to  uphold and strengthen the 
restrictions on the promotion of formula.
All the arguments are pretty easily torn down, and they include:

* that mothers who do not breastfeed may feel guilty (on the face of 
it, it is not logical -  why would simply not seeing an ad for 
formula milk make someone feel guilty for using it? But in fact there 
is a logic there, because the very presence of formula milk promotion 
*affirms* its use and normalises it)
*  the very campaign to restrict promotion  makes women feel guilty
* a legal product should have no restrictions on its promotion (a 
free market philosophy which over-rides public health considerations)
* women are not dupes and  can see through advertising, making their 
decisions on the basis of what is right for them, not on what they 
see in ads
* there is hardly  any difference between breastmilk and formula milk 
anyway....
*....and even if there is, we should not mention it (back to the 
guilt thing again)
* the government have no role to play in telling women 'what to do 
with their breasts'
* some women have a terrible time breastfeeding and formula is a 
life-saver to their babies
* it's all a diversion from the real issues of maternity leave, 
flexible employment and lack of good bf support

Sometimes, the response to these arguments was good, but I would have 
liked to see a more robust counter-argument throughout.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
Mail all commands to [log in to unmask]
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask])
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask])
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]