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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
lolly
Published Letters: 50 Editor's Choice: 5
It's interesting--or maybe disheartening--to notice that whenever the subject of infant feeding comes up, both breastfeeding and formula feeding mothers immediately point out how much they were persecuted for their choice. And personally, I think they're both right. Whatever we do, we're made to feel apologetic and ashamed for it.
Kind of like the working mother/stay at home mother phenomenon.
Do we see a pattern here? Keep the women fighting with each other, and they'll be too busy to make/demand some real changes in the way mothers in general are treated in the workplace and at home.
Re: the freebies--I think there are better ways to promote breastfeeding than taking these away.
Re: the toxins in breastmilk--please, get real. Study after study shows that breastfed babies, in general, have reduced health problems. So, even with the "toxins," they're better off. And do you really think that whatever toxins are finding their way into women's bodies aren't coming anywhere near the cows that provide most infant formula? Stop being ridiculous.
Any woman who knows that she doesn't want to breastfeed shouldn't, period. I wouldn't see any point with trying to argue with anyone who felt that way. And it's certainly not a sign of fitness for motherhood.
However, what I think some women miss is that there are a lot of new mothers who aren't sure, or who have been given misleading information. For these women, the advice to "try breastfeeding" and get some good help (lactation consultants) is spot-on. If you try breastfeeding and change your mind--as many women do--you can always shift to the bottle. It doesn't work the other way around. So I would always advise women who are unsure to give it a try.
If you aren't unsure, however, there's no point. Go with what works, be a good mom, love your baby and cuddle him a lot.
Maybe I'm imagining this, but I seem to remember watching the Pageant in the 60s, and as each contestant walked down the catwalk in her swimsuit, the announcer gave her measurements (along with the other innocuous information about where she was from, what she wanted to do after college, etc.)
Does anybody else "of a certain age" remember this? Will they be bringing this back too?
"And these are particularly vulnerable men who have few other options ."
They are particularly vulnerable . . . why?
Because they are intimidated why grown-up women who want to be equal partners rather than submissive decorations?
Get a clue. Single women outnumber single men in the U.S.
If a single man has "few other options" than to buy a desperate bride from another country, maybe he'd better look to his own issues.
I'm not sure why these men are described as "old fashioned" for not wanting to have sex with an unwilling partner.
"Decent human beings" might be a better description?
""I've been very surprised," Marielle Lindstrom, head of the IOM in Turkey, told the Independent. "We haven't noticed this anywhere in Europe. Turkish men seem to have an old-fashioned view of women. They don't mind using prostitutes, but they want the woman to be doing this willingly. If she's found not to be doing it willingly…it affects their pride.""
Maybe someone can point out the sarcasm, the deft tongue-in-cheek here?
Good luck.
And, btw, if the 2nd post was trying to demonstrate an ability to read nuance, it failed rather miserably by interpreting my comment as some sort of ranting criticism of the author (who, you will notice, was not the person who made the statement about old-fashioned men).
Another war story, but here goes--I had 3 c-sections, one VBAC (vaginal birth after Caesarean) for the 3rd birth at the drs. insistence, not mine.
I would have a dozen c-secs before I would go through another vaginal.
The vaginal birth broke my tailbone and left me wearing Depends. For several months after the birth I couldn't sit down without severe pain. Even worse, many drs. deny the possibility of a broken tailbone with delivery. I was in an HMO, and the first dr. I went to after the birth scoffed at the idea. Fortunately, the pain continued and I went to another--a female dr.--who recognized it for what it was and put me on pain meds.
As for the other problem--I could do kegels until the cows come home and it wouldn't help, but that's all the drs. have to offer me.
And on top of that, of course, there was the horrific pain of 12 hours of labor.
So, I'm not having any more anyway, but I certainly wouldn't judge any woman harshly for choosing to avoid all this.
I don't think so.
It was my dr. who pushed the VBAC on me.
I'm not imagining my problems--I didn't have them after the first 2 sections. They came on in full force after the vaginal. They healed and improved somewhat between the 3rd and 4th birth (mercifully, a c-section) and did not recur with the fourth.
They were and are real problems. They were caused by vaginal delivery. If I could do it over again, I would insist much more forcefully on a c-sec.
I thought I was reading Salon.com, but apparently I inadvertently logged onto TheOnion.com.
Pretty good stuff. College guys are miserable because college girls want sex too much. Not your best satire, but not bad.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
