LACTNET Archives

Lactation Information and Discussion

LACTNET@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Chris Mulford <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 30 Mar 2007 11:01:10 -0400
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (98 lines)
Thank you to Pamela Morrison for sending Lactnet the call for papers from
ARM. They are an organization in Canada based at York University (Toronto)
that is almost 10 years old, and they probably deserve to be better known by
the "lactation community" (myself included). 

Here is the ARM web address 
http://www.yorku.ca/arm/

And here's what they say about the organization on their website.

<<The Association for Research on Mothering (ARM), founded in 1998, is the
first international feminist organization devoted specifically to the topic
of mothering-motherhood. Our mandate is to provide a forum for the
discussion and dissemination of research on motherhood and to establish a
community of individuals and institutions working and researching in the
area of mothering and motherhood. 

<<ARM, first and foremost, seeks to promote maternal scholarship, both at
the university and community level, by bringing together interested
individuals to share their insights, experiences, ideas, stories, studies
and concerns about mothering and motherhood. ARM is concerned in both
membership and research, to the inclusion of all mothers including First
Nations mothers, immigrant and refugee mothers, working-class mothers,
lesbian mothers, mothers with disabilities, mothers of colour, and mothers
of other marginalized groups.>>

A feminist organization that takes mothering as its focus is clearly of
interest to lactation consultants and breastfeeding advocates as we seek to
identify potential allies and potential adversaries in our own advocacy
work. 

The WABA working group on gender has been doing a lot of outreach to women's
organizations, especially in Asia. A joint statement on breastfeeding as a
women's issue was written at the second WABA Global Forum in Arusha,
Tanzania, in 2002. You can read it on the WABA website
http://www.waba.org.my/gender/index.html

I am excited to see attention being shown to breastfeeding and lactation by
feminists, as evidenced by this book project from ARM. I think it's
important too for us lactivists to learn more about the things feminists
care about, such as equal rights for women, and women's rights as human
rights. This will help us advocate more effectively for WOMEN as we advocate
for breastfeeding. We have to make sure people know that we care about the
woman behind the breasts...and caring about her should make us more
effective at what we do. 

If you ain't got no woman, you ain't got no breastfeeding, and that's a
fact!

On the US front, there is a group at University of North Carolina that has
been working for three years on bridging the gap between American feminists
and the breastfeeding movement. Paige Hall Smith at UNC Greensboro began the
effort in 2005 with a day-long seminar on bf and feminism. Another seminar
was given in 2006, which focused on bf and work, and I was happy to be part
of that one. The third seminar in this series, this one two days long, is
being planned for September at UNC Chapel Hill, organized by Paige and
Miriam Labbok. See
http://www.sph.unc.edu/nciph/breastfeeding_and_feminism_symposium_4429_4207.
html for more info.

And as long as I've bent the Lactnet rules by mentioning one educational
opportunity, I'll bend them again to remind ILCA members to check out the
ILCA website for information about the one-day gender orientation--it's too
short to be called a gender training--that WABA and ILCA are jointly
offering on the pre-conference day (Aug 15) at the 2007 ILCA conference.
This will be co-facilitated by Marta Trejos--a women's activist from Costa
Rica, Penny Van Esterik, and me. We LCs may think we're already
gender-sensitive because we work with women all day long, but there's always
more to learn. Hanging out with Marta and Penny for a day should be lots of
fun, too!

Cheers from Chris

Chris Mulford, RN, IBCLC
LLL Leader Reserve
Working for WIC in South Jersey (Eastern USA)
Chair, Workplace Bf Support Committee, USBC
Co-coordinator, Women & Work Task Force, WABA
 ----------------

Pamela sent this:
 >> Demeter Press
 >> Call for Papers:
 >>
 >> Giving Breast Milk
 >>
 >> Publication Date: Fall 2009
 >> Deadline for Absracts: July 16, 2007

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

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]

ATOM RSS1 RSS2