Tag: breastfeeding culture

If You Never See Breastfeeding…

hollymilkowski July 14, 2015

If you never see breastfeeding, you’re missing awareness of a few things, or a true understanding of the whole thing — just like I was before I eventually saw it.

This way of child nurturing is so natural it can easily blend in with everything else we attend to in our domestic, professional, and social lives. But blending in is not equal to disappearing.

If you never see it, you may not know it’s how many women learn to become mothers. You may not know it’s how they continue to learn about who they are as mothers. So we must make a point to not let the image and act of breastfeeding disappear.

Why Do Some Breastfeeders Wear a Cover in Public?

hollymilkowski February 6, 2015

Looking annoyed. >:-I Via etsy.com

Why do some mothers nurse under the curtain if the law says we don’t have to? Well, it’s not really anyone’s business why a woman may want to wear a cover, so if you feel a curiosity overtaking you, please know it’s best not to ask. I’ll give you a few hints though, based on my own experience and what I’ve heard.

I’ve heard that nursing bibs/aprons/tents are an “American” thing and that foreigners are baffled by their mere existence. Thus, we could hypothesize the reason for covered breastfeeding is simply the influence of Yankee Doodle, but let’s not jump to conclusions just yet.

Does Breastfeeding Mean the End of Happy Hours?

hollymilkowski November 9, 2014

Giving beer to a baby is bad. Giving breast milk to a baby is good. Giving beer to a breastfeeding mother… well, let’s talk about that.

In March, a woman in Arkansas was arrested on the basis of child endangerment for breastfeeding in a restaurant after consuming two beers. In September, a Virginia woman was kicked out of Big Woody’s Bar & Grill for — yep, you guessed it — sipping a beer (only one sip, she says) while breastfeeding her 11-month-old. I know, I know… “What was she thinking bringing a child to a bar?!” A bar & GRILL, actually. You know, more Chili’s, less Coyote Ugly. (And the particular establishment bills itself as “family friendly”). The woman also claims she is a degreed chemist who has done her research and knows how much alcohol she can have without affecting her breast milk.

Did these women deserve arrest and refusal? Were they misguided to think their behaviors were perfectly harmless, or do they know something their persecutors don’t? Let’s see…

6 “Helpful” Things You Should Stop Saying to Moms Who are Nursing in Public

hollymilkowski October 28, 2014

We all know the deserved reaction to harsh comments about breastfeeding in public. Someone who says “That’s gross!” might benefit from being handed a therapist’s business card. Someone who insists “No one wants to SEE that!” could use a reminder that it takes only 30 degrees of movement to make a publicly breastfeeding pair disappear from peripheral view, if so necessary. Whoever snidely laughs, “Stop trying so hard to prove a point!” may be appropriately received with literature on biology and survival (preferably a hardback cover straight to the face), the “point” of ensuring that our children stay alive and happy.

What concerns me more than the pitifully ignorant and sadly classless ones are the well-intentioned ones who occasionally say the wrong thing too, and risk causing as much harm as the jerks. For especially sensitive women (read: virtually all postpartum mothers), certain phrases, questions, statements can be taken the wrong way.

The 7 Grossest Breastfeeding Ads

hollymilkowski October 15, 2014

Breastfeeding in Public: It is (Not) a Big Deal!

hollymilkowski October 13, 2014

Breastfeeding moms are kind of ridiculous.

Seems like all we say is, “Hey, breastfeeding is so not a big deal! Lighten up, naysayers!” But then we stage nurse-ins, tweet to businesses that have mistreated us, and remind everyone from our friends to the mailman about the zillion ways that “breast is best.” I know, it’s a bit backwards to make a point of talking about breastfeeding at every chance, purposefully inflating it into a big deal when the bottom line of our advocating is, “Hey people, breastfeeding is NOT a big deal!”

Especially, especially, especially… breastfeeding in public.

hollymilkowski August 4, 2014

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Wendy Williams Does NOT Want to See You Breastfeed!

hollymilkowski June 16, 2014

Via Paa.la on Facebook

Did this really happen?!

What the hell is wrong with these people? Come on guys, I even had to tag “bitches” in this post. This is for real stuff. Worst of all, the audience APPLAUSE is most deafening!

Wendy says she does not want to see breastfeeding in public (newsflash: you don’t have to look). Yet she willingly and proudly posed naked for a public PETA ad. Pretty sure no one asked to see her bare armpits and stomach and hips either. Not trying to be rude… just sayin’. No one asked to see it. Certainly not a baby whose survival and happiness depends on her exposure of hypocrisy.