Dear christine,
Culture changes faster than biology. When I visited Siena, Italy, in 1996,
I spent several hours in the Pinacoteca Nazionale, looking at gorgeous
medieval religious art, and saw over a dozen images of Jesus nursing at
Mary's breast, nothing "discreet" or modest about these images, breast
fully exposed, some with the baby holding the breast with both hands, as
older kids often do. There are a number of other collections in Siena alone
that feature similar works, incl a very famous one called Madonna del Latte.
So, don't let the bottle-influenced culture of our century bother you too
much.
martha johnson RN IBCLC
Eugene, Oregon
> ----------
> From: Christine Montano[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 1999 5:33 AM
> Subject: help please: Did you know Jesus was bottlefed?
>
> Hi everyone,
> Inspired by Dr. Jack Newman's speech at the LLLI ICF, I am reviewing my
> toddlers baby books for signs of bottles. Dr. Newman urged us to write to
> complain to publishers about using the bottle image in publications,
> because they help normalize bottle feeding in our culture by us showing
> these images starting at an early age. Surprisingly enough, I've found
> four offenders so far. One is "The Story of Christmas", a board book
> published in 1998. It is written by Patricia A. Pingry, illustrated by
> Lorraine Wells. The publisher is Candy Cane Press, a division of Ideals
> Publications Inc.
>
> Anyway, I am preparing to write a letter to the author, illustrator, and
> publisher (and cc: Dr. Newman), and would love to hear from anyone about
> what the actual possibility of Jesus being fed ABM via bottle is. I am not
> a specialist in the history of breastfeeding in Israel but my common sense
> tells me that all babies were breastfed back then!
>
> The text and illustration are as follows: Page 1: Picture of present-day
> family having a talk by the Christmas tree with wrapped gifts under it, in
> pajamas: "Do you know why we give gifts at Christmas? We give presents
> because it is Jesus' birthday." Page 2: Picture of angel and Mary: "Long
> ago an angel told Mary she would have a baby named Jesus." Page 3:
> Picture: Joseph building a wooden cradle, pile of hay next to it. Mary
> sitting holding a bottle made of cloth wound around many times with a
> pointed nipple (I've scrutinized this and it can't possibly be anything
> but a bottle.) Text: "Mary and her husband, Joseph, were very happy. They
> had a lot to do to get ready for the Baby." There are no other
> illustrations of bottles. Mary does cuddle the baby in three scenes. How
> nice it would have been if at least one of those scenes was Mary nursing
> Jesus.
> Thanks in advance for your input.
> Christine in Connecticut
>
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