>I don't think it's cultural paranoia Nikki, I think it's misogyny.
>Breast milk comes from women.  And women have nasty icky fluids.

I saw an example of this just this morning.  It's an ad for a hands-free pumping bra.  Lovely-looking flat-tummied woman, busily pumping away while she sits cross-legged on the floor typing... and there's no milk in the bottles.

Now, if *I* were planning the ad, I'd want to show that the bra *worked* - that it held the flanges firmly enough for a good seal and thus for good milk production.  And to show it worked, I'd put ample proof in the bottles.  Silly me.  I guess lovely women just can't go producing icky fluids on the backs of glossy magazines.  So I've started looking for *any* ads showing "human milk".  The Snappies ads do (though no women in sight).  Do any others show milk?  In a quick search I haven't found any.  Interesting!  I thought they used to...

I can't help but think that the biohazard/icky fluid issue may be one of the many "brush fires" that will put themselves out once we talk about the hazards of formula instead of the glories of breastmilk.  When women are finally more embarrassed to pull out a bottle than a breast, will the biohazard silliness kind of... dry up on its own, just like the dolls and greeting cards and signs with bottles?

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.normalfed.com


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