Yesterday I had a speaker come in to speak to my High School Sunday School
class.  I can't believe I sat there and thought about breastfeeding while
listening to his words!

Bob McMorrow was talking about the influence of media on the masses of
people and how much they can change a country's thinking of what is
acceptable.  He said that

***appealing to the emotions of a person made more changes than any
intellectual discussion****.

 His case in point were some ads that was printed for the German people that
surely affected them into thinking that what Hitler did was okay (and the
few who were not influenced to think so did not- or could not in fear of
their lives, speak out).  The ads had no practical information, but appealed
to the emotions.  The first ad showed large money bags with Jewish people
hiding behind, the second was a skyline of a Polish town with lights shining
down from the heavens and a German symbol in the sky, and the third was a
scene where a Jewish landowner was evicting another Jewish family from their
house and a German little boy saying that when he grew up he would never let
a Jewish person on his land.

How I thougth of breastfeeding:
I do NOT want to go into a discussion of Hitler or what happened in  history
here, but the point of how emotions make more dramatic changes than the
intellect has happened in history.  People actually went along with things
they would once have thought was very wrong.  I can see some of this in
formula advertising- and we might use this idea in breastfeeding
advertising.  Gerber did it with the "Gerber baby": the rolly-polly, cute
baby with the big eyes.  Doesn't the formula companies use the sweetest
babies in their ads?  How about the cosy nurseries outfitted with everything
one would need and more so?  How about the mothers who are model-pretty in
white flowing gowns?  I know you laugh to think they are our "role models",
but don't we emotionally want to be as pretty, as well-gowned, as affluent
as them?

Maybe our appealing to the intellect of the mothers is not the best
approach.  How many mothers KNOW the advantages of breastfeeding and choose
to formula feed instead?  Do you think that advertising sweet, pudgy,
sleep-through-the -night babies would have more impact?  I do!  I want my
breastfed baby dressed in white too and gurgling, giggling, and
intellectually doing more than she should be doing!  How would you like to
see your breastfed baby?  Of course, I want to be protrayed as a busty (but
not TOO busty), shapely mom who has it all under control, a beautiful house,
a nice car, and a husband who worships the ground I walk on too!  Not too
much to ask for a breastfeeding mom!

Nothing new to us, I'm sure, but a "Sunday School" reminder to me about what
I should be doing to promote breastfeeding- using emotion, not intellectual
appeal!

Terriann Shell
Big Lake, Alaska

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