YES! ANTIPERSPIRANT! But if you put that thing in a babies mouth! Look out!

Take for example Harley Jennette, she has been through an emotional wringer over breastfeeding her baby. Where? At work, in a park? No, at her church. Yes, that’s correct, her church. Harley Jennette was asked by members of her congregation to not nurse her baby in church. One fellow (or I should say sister) church goer went so far as to say, “you should cover up so you don’t embarrass yourself.” Jenette says she was never indiscrete or rude. The situation over her nursing in church has been going on since August of last year, finally culminating with a request for her to leave her congregation all together! For the entire story click here. What a strange time we live in. We are surrounded by images of sex everywhere. Yet when a woman dares to use her breast for nourishing her child THAT is somehow unacceptable or taboo? Jennette is not alone,  Afrykan Moon was asked by a female bus driver to get off the bus because she was nursing. Penny Schlasner was asked to leave her local WOMAN’S Gym for the same thing, both women knew their rights but still suffered humiliation and infringements of their rights. Breastfeeding advocate and co founder of Human Milk 4 Human Babies, Emma Kwasnica has yet again had her Facebook page suspended over images of her nursing her own children! Side note Afrykan Moon eventually received an apology from the bus company (they even supplied air conditioned buses to women staging a nurse-in), Penny has yet to hear an apology from Pure Fitness for Women. [If you are thinking of letting them know what you think, good luck, they delete any comments defending Penny almost immediately.]

LOOK the breast is MADE to make milk and nourish a baby.

Why is this woman not using a blanket to eat this salad? Okay, so THIS IS OKAY?”]

[GASP!

but THIS is NOT ok? Wha!?!?

How have we come to this strange strange place? Where a mother attempting to feed her baby is made to feel shame? Where a woman who chooses the best possible food for her child is discriminated against and made to feel ostracized? Did you know we are the only mammal on the planet that purposefully feeds our young non-species specific food? Milk from a cows teat = okay/normal. Milk from the mother that gave birth to you = ew? What? I say this scratching my head. HOW/WHY has breastfeeding come to be looked down upon? Since we have been on the planet we have been nourished by the breast.

“It costs our society to formula feed babies. We can save an estimated 1.3 billion healthcare dollars per year by doing one thing: Encourage breastfeeding. Breastfed infants have more of the cellular building blocks to make their immune system respond to virus infections like RSV, and influenza. A study by Ball and Wright looked at just three illnesses – lower respiratory tract infections, otitis media (ear infections) and gastrointestinal illness (stomach and digestive tract). There were 2033 excess office visits, 212 excess days of hospitalization, and 609 excess prescriptions for every 1000 formula fed infants. This costs the managed health system $331 to $475 for every formula-fed infant.

Where s this woman's Nursing cover?!!?

“Nature has provided all we need to grow a baby. At no other time in life is a single food adequate as the sole source of nutrition. Human milk is species specific and is living tissue. Breast milk has living cells that protect the baby from attack by bacteria. It makes antibodies to viruses the mother is exposed to so that the baby is also protected from the virus. Breast milk encourages growth of lactobacillus bifidus bacteria – the good bacteria in the gut – that inhibits overgrowth of yeast and aids in digestion.”-Geri Davis (from her article Breastfeeding:Ancient Wisdom for the Modern World)

With all this in mind why do we still feel the need to hide the breast when it is serving the VERY purpose for which it is designed? Even when folks supposedly get that breastmilk is superior to all other breastmilk substitutes. I saw this in a post the other day: “ There is nothing wrong with breastfeeding a baby in public or elsewhere but to expose yourself and not use a blanket is not good and what you do is your sin and it is on you.Be modest.What happen to women covering themselves and having respect for themselves.Women are too precious to just be on display like that.”
Whoa! Hey!  My logical question is this…if women have been modest about nursing in the past why do we not have depictions of it and if they never did use a blanket at what point in history was it decided it was wrong or something to stare at AS IF it was on display instead of it being just what it is? Is the SEXUALITY of breastfeeding what upsets folks? Or is the SEXUALITY always present in the eye of the beholder? Is THAT what is  upseting them the most? I don’t look at breasts as sexual when I see a mother nursing. So if you do then what’s going on with you?

I like how Heather Stoltz of RESPECT THE BREAST puts it,”If you look up the definition of porn it says it is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction,” said Heather. “And nudity (when breasts are considered) is when the nipple is exposed. With that in mind, I see nothing wrong with what we are posting.”
How do we change the mindset? Maybe we can start by beginning at, well, the beginning. That’s what the group 

Bring Breastfeeding
Back To Sesame Street

wants to do. How? Here’s what they say: “We are representing over 30,000 parents that want to see Sesame Street incorporate breastfeeding into their show .

The children’s educational program in the 1970s and 1980s highlighted breastfeeding, and depicted it as a healthy normal way for a mother to feed her baby.

In the 1990s all breastfeeding images were removed and only bottle feeding was depicted as nourishment for a child.

Why does this matter?

Because breastfeeding is a natural and and healthy way to feed a child. Sesame Street is known for their wonderful educational programming that will prepare children for the future.

If we are constantly showing images of only bottle feeding as a way of nourishing a child, and neglecting breastfeeding, we are doing a disservice to our children and their future offspring.

Both bottle feeding and breastfeeding should be equally given air time, and explain that both are means to feed a baby.”
I remember seeing the clips with Buffy and Maria as a kid. I don’t remember being shocked or strange. So why do so many people find it upsetting? I wish the women behind this idea the best of luck. I think if we teach our youth that it’s normal and natural, then that will ensure a different generation people. There are lots of things that kids aren’t born with. We teach them through our actions what to like and dislike. These things are shared whether we are aware of it or not. If we act upset and strange around breastfeeding our children pick up on that. If we don’t they wont either! I’m with these gals. According to Sesame Street :

Sesame Street is based on educational goals designed to help children:

• Understand themselves and the world around them;
• Appreciate human diversity;
• Interpret the sights, sounds and experiences of their environment;
• Take beginning steps toward reading, writing, and math.

“Sesame Street encourages children to learn about people near and far by:

Featuring people who differ in appearance, action, or point of view playing and working together; and by modeling relationships in which people respect each other, cooperate, and resolve conflicts.”
Hmm, let’s see if you show breastfeeding kids can learn that moms here and in other countries feed their babies from themselves! Just by showing breastfeeding AND bottle feeding Sesame Street, you can embody how people can respect each other, cooperate, and resolve conflicts just by bringing breastfeeding back!

Sesame Street says; “Nutrition, physical movement and hygiene are prominent in the Sesame Street curriculum where the cast and Muppets learn how to play sports, keep clean, and prepare delicious healthy foods.”

What better way to talk about nutrition than to talk about the first place/time humans get a healthy start? Breastmilk contains 400 nutrients that cannot be recreated in a laboratory, and several studies

suggest that breastfeeding reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Not breastfeeding has been linked to an increased risk of hospitalization, childhood cancer, diarrheal diseases, lower respiratory illness, ear infections, bacterial infections, diabetes, infant botulism, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and even cavities. Talk about healthy!

This is a no brainer that even Big Bird gets!

This blog has been brought to you by the letter B and the number 3.6 billion.

P.S. HOW IS THIS OKAY AND THE ABOVE VIDEO ISN’T KATY PERRY SHOWS WAY MORE BOOB HERE! YEESH!