For the record, this is what I advised the very energized and enthusiastic
moms on mothering.com, who were working on an immediate nurse-in at the TV
station, in response to Schram commentary:
Okay, here I am with my 2 cents - feel free to ignore, but I have been
involved with this for 6 years, have been coached by PR professionals, and
have dealt with idiots before.
You must ignore him. Kathi the anchor said it all. I'd assume that her
co-workers looked shocked because of her saying such a strong and unscripted
thing on-air - but are probably not in agreement with Ken.
I've been coached on how to deal with this comment, when doing live Talk
radio. (I've been the radio "guest" while the host took calls - so I would
comment on what the callers said). This stupid analogy comes up once, almost
any time bfing in public is discussed. It is always a man.
The PR professional coached me to ignore it. [you here on Lactnet know
Jodine Chase, this is who I am reffering to] You don't try to debate an
idiot. The comment it too stupid to engage in - and 98% of the population
will know it. Kathi's comment afterward gave it all the attention it
deserved.
If this WERE a radio talk show - I was coached to just say "its because of
comments like that that we need to talk about breastfeeding in public" or
"that's why we need to talk about breastfeeding rights" and the host would
move on.
There will always be pocket idiots. Ken won't ever change his mind, but he
deserves to lose his voice. Any letters should be to the station, who gave
him his platform - they must have had some idea what he was going to say?
They wouldn't allow a racist to spew off like that. There will always be
pocket racists - who will make vile, stupid, racists remarks. In social
situations, most people would just shun someone like that. And the no
station would give a public platform to someone like that. Its the station
that needs letters.
The best way to shut him up, is ignore him. of course you want to do
something - lets all admit, a certain % of the reason why we want to do
these nurse-ins, is that it FEELS really good to stand in solidarity with
nursing moms. I am serious about this. I've only been at one rally IRL, and
I went away with such a great feeling of very validated. I cherish the
certificate I got for being there. we only nurse for a few years of our
total lives, and at this time, so few understand how we feel about it, that
to be in a group of women who all feel the same, is beyond words. it was
almost as good as my wedding, or some other special day in my life. But even
my dh doesn't understand that. We are in the middle of something big, but
you in Seattle didn't get to be part of NYC, and now you want to have some
of that feeling. I absolutely get that.
So do the rally, I have no problem with that. Make it big, do it now. you
can know that it's because of NYC, and Ken's comments, but don't make him
think that he's as important as Barbara Walters??? he's just the local
village idiot. Just ignore him. Do the rally, make it big, invite Kathi to
speak, make her a hero, give her flowers. Give the exclusive story to the
competing TV station, or work with Ken's station to "blackmail" them to give
you alot of free publicity for a rally. They may already be feeling pretty
stupid about letting him say that, and would welcome a way to "mend fences"
with the bfig community. You say they already run some kind of parenting
friendly campaign. This was really stupid - even ffers wouldn't agree with
comparing bm with urine.
Just don't validate him by making him think he is important enough for a
nurse-in. He doesn't matter.
The NYC nurse-in addressed a persistent attitude, not a one-off comment by
someone, in the big picture, is nobody. Everybody knows who BW is. This Ken
is, in terms of the whole US, an local idiot. Do you really want national
media to cover a big nurse-in protest of him, who will then have to give a
national platform to explain what he said? Don't do it.
Of course, you can/will do what you want. I won't be there. But I think on
the whole Seattle is very prof bfing. I mean 98% of people know that bfing
and urinating are totally different.
Janice
Since I wrote that, it was my understanding that they are framing the event
as a rally, not a nurse-in.
I have been told by a PR professional, that newspaper and TV stations often
employ a columnist like that, simply to be contraversial, stir things up,
and increase ratings. If thats the case, he's been very successful at that.
Someone else noted that he has said outrageous things about other groups -
it seems to specifically bait them. And that the station loves him and that
he isn;t goin anywhere. It seems we fell for his baiting. I guess its hard
to understand why one comment warrants a nurse-in, while another should have
been completely ignored, or handled in a different way.
Regardless, I'm sure it will all work out fine, because the bottom line is,
we are in the right, we have the truth on our side, and ultimately, now that
women feel free to speak openly and freely about their own breasting in
public stories, societal change will happen. This isn't a story we need
to spin, or that a few people with experience needs to manage - it is THE
truth, and it will prevail. There are hundreds of thousands of women across
North America - even if they only breastfeed for a few weeks - I would guess
that the majority of them have felt some of the sting and pain and confusion
of the pressure to make sure they are well covered and considerate of others
"feelings", while they know they are really just doing what is needed to
feed and nurture their child.
Janice Reynolds
Saskatchewan, Canada
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