I, too, was a little disappointed in the Dr. Phil show. Yes, there were some
high points--all those beautiful nursing mother shots were terrific--and
ironically, there was VERY little skin showing on any of them. However, the
pro-mom came off sounding militant at times, saying that she'd breastfeed
any way any how, no matter who was watching, etc. The way she was saying it,
coupled with Dr. Phil's rather patronizing advice at the end to be aware of
folks around who might be uncomfortable, gave the image of her stripping to
the waist every time she wanted to feed her baby.

And while the other mom was not as attractive or educated, I think her
request to just not "shove it in her face" seemed almost a reasonable
request, and it seemed to be that way for a lot of the audience, as well.
Had the pro-mom addressed that remark (Susan's suggested reply of "excuse me
would you like a little cream with your coffee?" was great!), it could have
been diffused better. The toilet remark came pretty late in the segment.

I would have liked the pro-mom or Dr. Phil to have addressed the other mom's
repeated statement that she "just doesn't find that attractive!" --as if
attractiveness should determine appropriateness.

The other thing that was missing from this segment, and perhaps, in a way,
it was irrelevant, was the whole concept of how important breastfeeding is,
and that even pumped milk in a bottle is inferior to straight from the
source.  Having a little more of this mentioned would have given reason
behind the pro-mom's claim that it is her baby's right to be breastfed and
that she'd do it any where, any how. It would have sounded less like someone
who IS intent upon "shoving" it in anybody's face.

So, I don't know. The show was a mixed bag of idiocy, lost opportunity, and
some wonderful nursing shots.

Melissa Vickers, IBCLC
Huntingdon, TN
Obviously, these two women were both chosen for their willingness to
represent militancy from both sides.

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