Here's mine: <November 10, 1997 To the intrepid editors of Redbook: Bravo for your December news stand cover! In nearly 30 years as a breastfeeding advocate, I don't recall ever seeing a breastfeeding mother on the cover of a major women's magazine in the U.S.A. You've made an important statement. I hope you'll follow it up with some honest reporting about why it's been such a struggle for breastfeeding to make a comeback in America. You'll get flak for this cover, of course. Remember the fuss about a nursing picture that ran inside "People" magazine a few years back? But you might use the flak as the jumping-off point for a serious look at infant feeding issues. How did our culture's view of women's breasts get to be so sexualized that breastfeeding becomes an impossible choice for lots of pregnant women? How have we managed to let ourselves come so close to completely losing this important biological function? If breastfeeding were our cultural norm, people would assume that breastfeeding is part of every mother's relationship to her baby, just as we assume that sex is part of the relationship of every healthy, committed adult couple. It's time for a revolution, and your cover can become one of the banners! Being a person who sees connections even when they're not intended, I got a chuckle from some of the accompanying headlines on the cover. Breastfeeding is for sure a "gift that thrills every child." Once mom and baby know how to do it, they both have sparks of desire "again and again and again." And this uniquely female relationship to her baby can be, for each mother, "one thing" that she's "incredible at." Thanks, and keep up the good work! Chris Mulford 219 Dickinson Avenue SWARTHMORE PA 19081-1630 610/543-5990 <