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Courtesy of
aquariumgirl (note-registration required, but bugmenot.com usually has working logins for the Washington Post) HHS Toned Down Breast-Feeding Ads Formula Industry Urged Softer Campaign. Also available here from MSNBC.
And much more pleasantly....
Design your own onsie.
The next two, courtesy of
rockstarbob:
Most popular baby names by decade from the 1880s to 2000s.-I found my name in the appropriate decade.
Also, The baby name wizard blog with some interesting articles. Do note that the words "vagina" and "penis" appear in entirely mundane context on the current first page of the blog.
I think it's time to go talk to my breakfast cereal, and see what my Rice Krispies inspire me to do today. Maybe they'll prompt me to answer the three e-mails in my inbox that I want to deal with.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
And much more pleasantly....
Design your own onsie.
The next two, courtesy of
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Most popular baby names by decade from the 1880s to 2000s.-I found my name in the appropriate decade.
Also, The baby name wizard blog with some interesting articles. Do note that the words "vagina" and "penis" appear in entirely mundane context on the current first page of the blog.
I think it's time to go talk to my breakfast cereal, and see what my Rice Krispies inspire me to do today. Maybe they'll prompt me to answer the three e-mails in my inbox that I want to deal with.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 04:15 pm (UTC)The last thing the boob nazis need is more venom to spew at those of us who decide not to breastfeed, no matter what our reasons are.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 04:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 04:48 pm (UTC)Anyway, on to your question. I think in general we should never make a woman feel guilty for her choices regarding her baby, as long as she's making safe choices. (There's a big difference to me between formula feeding and refusing to use a carseat "because it's my choice", for example.) I would instead focus on the convenience and cost benefits of breastfeeding, those pros that bring added value to the table without bringing guilt into it. I can understand that I would be saving time not having to make bottles and carry formula around and make sure i have a safe water supply and blah blah, and that formula feeding outright costs more than breastfeeding. That doesn't make me sad (other than my checkbook). I think there are ways to bring the point across that breast is better than bottle without beating it into women and telling them their child will be a fat asthmatic retard without breastmilk.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-01 02:15 am (UTC)No woman should feel guilty because she tried her best to breastfeed and it didn't work out, nor should she feel guilty because she made an informed decision that there were other issues in her life or that of her family that outweighed the potential adverse health consequences of formula feeding.
But portraying breastmilk and formula as being nutritionally equivalent is sort of like portraying a car with airbags and a car without them as equally safe. Most people who own cars without airbags realize that they would be safer in the event of a crash if they did have airbags, but if they've thought about it at all, have chosen not to upgrade to a newer car with airbags because they've decided that it's not worth the financial cost. That's a totally reasonable decision, and I would hope they didn't feel guilty about it (I have front airbags but not side airbags, and I don't feel at all guilty about it) -- just as I would hope that someone who made a well-reasoned decision not to breastfeed wouldn't feel guilty about it.
I'm honestly not sure I'm entirely comfortable with the advertising graphics in the original campaign myself (I suppose that was part of the point), though I liked the statistics. I think changes in the WIC program and changes in the way doctors talk to patients about breast vs. formula feeding would be useful ways to approach the issue. I found it sort of appalling that during my pregnancies and after the birth of my children, I was asked to fill out forms on which I checked whether I would be breastfeeding or formula feeding, after which point my doctors congratulated me on the choice to breastfeed -- but I doubt that they talked very much with the patients who chose formula feeding to ascertain why they wanted to use formula and educate them about breastfeeding.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-01 04:14 pm (UTC)I need to think on this more.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 09:27 pm (UTC)I just had a thought - in a society where women more or less are assumed to breastfeed, and women live closely in groups and help each other take care of the kids (the "it takes a village" philosophy), do women share breastfeeding duties too? How does the group deal with a woman who has PPD, or a baby who isn't thriving by mom's milk, or even something as simple as the lack of sleep that occurs when a baby needs to eat every hour for 2 weeks solid? Do they help each other by breastfeeding each others' children, or does the woman in trouble end up fending for herself with the baby possibly dying (when mom doesn't make milk to sustain it)?
no subject
Date: 2007-09-01 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-01 01:27 am (UTC)And some women do this even in our society today, though most people today are a little weirded out by it.
Another fun naming link for you:
Date: 2007-08-31 10:56 pm (UTC)Re: Another fun naming link for you:
Date: 2007-08-31 10:58 pm (UTC)Re: Another fun naming link for you:
Date: 2007-08-31 10:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-04 08:06 pm (UTC)That said, the context of the arguments presented here are fascinating to me. I overheard my brother telling my mom over the weekend how his third child (almost 3 weeks old) gave the best effort at trying to latch on but just couldn't do it (my SIL has inverted nipples). So she pumps and they bottle-feed him that way, and since she's a medical professional she is perhaps a bit less susceptible to those who would endeavour to make her feel guilty in any fashion for not spending every possibly second trying to get him to latch on. So long as he's getting the breastmilk one way or the other, that's all that really matters to her and to the child.
At any rate, thanks for the link and the discourse!