Thank you to Pamela Morrison for sending Lactnet the call for papers from ARM. They are an organization in Canada based at York University (Toronto) that is almost 10 years old, and they probably deserve to be better known by the "lactation community" (myself included). Here is the ARM web address http://www.yorku.ca/arm/ And here's what they say about the organization on their website. <<The Association for Research on Mothering (ARM), founded in 1998, is the first international feminist organization devoted specifically to the topic of mothering-motherhood. Our mandate is to provide a forum for the discussion and dissemination of research on motherhood and to establish a community of individuals and institutions working and researching in the area of mothering and motherhood. <<ARM, first and foremost, seeks to promote maternal scholarship, both at the university and community level, by bringing together interested individuals to share their insights, experiences, ideas, stories, studies and concerns about mothering and motherhood. ARM is concerned in both membership and research, to the inclusion of all mothers including First Nations mothers, immigrant and refugee mothers, working-class mothers, lesbian mothers, mothers with disabilities, mothers of colour, and mothers of other marginalized groups.>> A feminist organization that takes mothering as its focus is clearly of interest to lactation consultants and breastfeeding advocates as we seek to identify potential allies and potential adversaries in our own advocacy work. The WABA working group on gender has been doing a lot of outreach to women's organizations, especially in Asia. A joint statement on breastfeeding as a women's issue was written at the second WABA Global Forum in Arusha, Tanzania, in 2002. You can read it on the WABA website http://www.waba.org.my/gender/index.html I am excited to see attention being shown to breastfeeding and lactation by feminists, as evidenced by this book project from ARM. I think it's important too for us lactivists to learn more about the things feminists care about, such as equal rights for women, and women's rights as human rights. This will help us advocate more effectively for WOMEN as we advocate for breastfeeding. We have to make sure people know that we care about the woman behind the breasts...and caring about her should make us more effective at what we do. If you ain't got no woman, you ain't got no breastfeeding, and that's a fact! On the US front, there is a group at University of North Carolina that has been working for three years on bridging the gap between American feminists and the breastfeeding movement. Paige Hall Smith at UNC Greensboro began the effort in 2005 with a day-long seminar on bf and feminism. Another seminar was given in 2006, which focused on bf and work, and I was happy to be part of that one. The third seminar in this series, this one two days long, is being planned for September at UNC Chapel Hill, organized by Paige and Miriam Labbok. See http://www.sph.unc.edu/nciph/breastfeeding_and_feminism_symposium_4429_4207. html for more info. And as long as I've bent the Lactnet rules by mentioning one educational opportunity, I'll bend them again to remind ILCA members to check out the ILCA website for information about the one-day gender orientation--it's too short to be called a gender training--that WABA and ILCA are jointly offering on the pre-conference day (Aug 15) at the 2007 ILCA conference. This will be co-facilitated by Marta Trejos--a women's activist from Costa Rica, Penny Van Esterik, and me. We LCs may think we're already gender-sensitive because we work with women all day long, but there's always more to learn. Hanging out with Marta and Penny for a day should be lots of fun, too! Cheers from Chris Chris Mulford, RN, IBCLC LLL Leader Reserve Working for WIC in South Jersey (Eastern USA) Chair, Workplace Bf Support Committee, USBC Co-coordinator, Women & Work Task Force, WABA ---------------- Pamela sent this: >> Demeter Press >> Call for Papers: >> >> Giving Breast Milk >> >> Publication Date: Fall 2009 >> Deadline for Absracts: July 16, 2007 *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html Mail all commands to [log in to unmask] To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask]) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask]) To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]