Dear Fellow Lactnetters
Last year our LLL group went through the group library and were getting rid
of some of the older books to make way for new and updated material. I have
the box of discarded books, and came across it last night and went through it
to see what was there. I found the MOST interesting book. Most of you have
probably read it, especially those of you that have been in the "business"
for 20 years or better. I had not heard of it, although some of the material
was familiar from classes I have taken. This wonderful book is, "The
Politics of Breastfeeding" by Gabrielle Palmer.
What I found so shocking was that this book, written in 1988, describes the
very issues that we are dealing with almost 20 years later. Many things have
slowly improved over the years, but there are things that are just as sadly
prudent now as then.
One of the things I discovered while reading, was the answer to the age old
question of NIP. Why is it ok to walk through the mall with a slinky little
slip of material that barely covers a woman's breast, and yet breastfeeding
an infant is so shockingly appalling in some of the general public's eyes.
Ms. Palmer answers with the following, "Until recently women have been able to
feed babies in the most sexually repressive societies; women who dared not
even show their faces could expose their breasts to feed a baby. In Victorian
England, famous for it prudery, a respectable woman could feed openly in
church, yet in contemporary industrialised society where women's bodies and
particularly breasts are used to sell newspapers, cars and peanuts, public
breastfeeding provokes cries of protest from both men and women. I believe the
reaction comes from something more complex than the mere discomfort of
unsatisfied sexual arousal....The feeding of a baby does provoke something far stronger
than sexuality. It is a demonstration of a power that is exclusively female
and it is unacceptable for a woman who has claimed some of the supposedly
male power to show she can have both." This sounds of course highly feminist,
but I can completely see what she means even today. How about women? Why
are they so horrified at seeing the breastfeeding couple? Ms. Palmer explains,
"Women who have not fed their own children, especially if they had wanted
to, may feel terrible seeing a breastfeeding pair." (pg 95-97)
I realize that some of this sounds quite obvious to some, but was quite an
eye opener to me. I had never considered the information presented. The book
goes on to discuss formula companies, their ugly beginnings and how the WHO
Code came about. It was very in depth and I am glad to have this
information. I read aloud much of the book to dh and he was shocked at the
underhandedness of the formula companies. He understands completely now why I refuse any
formula company gifts, both as a professional and as a mother. Why I do not
buy Nestle products etc. etc.
Another interesting parallel of the politics of "then and now" is in the
recent thread in this group of which is more stressing to the preterm infant,
breast or bottle. Ms. Palmer touched on that subject too, almost 20 years ago,
"Recent research from the United States with healthy pre-term babies showed,
through a set of physiological indicators, that babies were far less
stressed by the act of breastfeeding than by bottle feeding, yet the rule in many
hospitals is that a pre-term baby must not be allowed to breastfeed until it
can take a bottle." (pg.38)
I realize this book is "old" but I encourage anyone who hasn't had the
opportunity to read it to find a copy and indulge. To those who read it long ago,
it may be time for a refresher. I was, as I said before, shocked that the
information was as pertinent today, as it was back then; and deeply saddened
that it is still as pertinent.
Renee Drake RN CLC
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