Saturday, March 13, 2010

Let's get Ellen to help!

So Facebook doesn't like breastfeeding.

Let's use Facebook against itself.


I invite you to join and to invite your friends. Attention from the mainstream media will help accomplish exactly what we need: to bring breastfeeding out from the corners, under the blankets, and in bathroom stalls and back into the light.

5 comments:

Lauren said...

I have a strong feeling Ellen will pull through for you. Good luck April :)

Melina said...

Good luck! Good luck! Good luck! I hope that in the VERY near future we look back on the time where breastfeeding was marginalized, and we feel the same we do now about segregation....'what were we thinking? how could we ever be so strong minded?' Beautiful, beautiful blog!

Candice said...

As someone who appreciates your position as a mother and feminist, I am curious to know whether or not you feel that nursing mothers should be discreet when nursing in public. I personally have absolutely no issue with public breastfeeding, but I do think that there are tacit parameters, like throwing a blanket over oneself as to shield onlookers, naysayers, and perverts from bare breasts. Just wondering... Thanks.

April said...

Candice, interesting question and one that I've pondered A LOT lately because there are so many opinions on it (many of which have been shared with me about my own bare breasts in the picture where I'm nursing my babies.) My thoughts are that a nursing mother should do what makes her feel comfortable. If others are uncomfortable with a mother's need to feed her child, I think that is their issue to resolve rather than that of the mother. In my opinion, female breasts are considered sexual because our patriarchal society says they're sexual. I find a naked man's chest to be sexual and attractive, but I can control myself and my thoughts and be around that (at the beach etc) without turning into a crazed pervert. I also try to think of it in these terms: many men find a beautiful woman's face to be quite a turn on - but our society has very strong feelings about cultures that encourage women to cover their heads... While these examples might seem extreme or a stretch, I suppose my point with that is that a breastfeeding woman is simply feeding her child, and I'm not sure that asking her to cover up for society's sake is appropriate. That said, if a mother is more comfortable nursing discreetly, then I have no issue with that at all. And I think it is fantastic that as feminists and mothers, we ask ourselves and each other these questions, so that we can discuss and examine gender roles in our society and gain understanding of where others are coming from.

Candice said...

Thanks for responding, by the way! I'm quite intrigued by the topic (as hot as it is) of public breastfeeding. And women's issues, in general.

Also, thumbs up on being a Tom Robbins fan! I haven't read anything by him since my very early 20s, but I still have four or five of his books. Jitterbug Perfume is good, too!

Finally, can I ask you what kind of cloth diapers you use? We are presently using disposables, but we have another baby on the way and have decided to switch to cloth. I'm largely clueless, though I've been doing my homework. For as many moms as there are, there are as many opinions. Any suggestions?

Thanks again! -Candice