There has been some discussion on LACTNET and on parent-l about being pushy or zealous about breastfeeding. I have some very strong feelings about this, which I'd like to share. While I wholeheartedly agree that in mother-to-mother encounters such as in La Leche League we should take a very soft approach ("This has worked for some mothers ..."), I think there is a place for zealotry, and not just in our private discussions. It is in the area of public policy. We have governments, powerful corporations and other institutions arrayed against breastfeeding. We must, and should attack them with all the power we can muster. I don't mean foolishly railing at them, but taking into the public forum the facts about the dangers of artificial feeding, the ways in which these institutions undermine breastfeeding, the profit that is made from the suffering of mothers and babies, etc., etc. We must not shrink from using the power that is ours! Rachael Hamlet, radical bf netsurfing lawyer mom from hell