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A recent petition has grabbed headlines. Should the iconic Sesame Street talk about breastfeeding??? The interesting thing is that, they already have. Back in the 70's & 80's breastfeeding was not only talked about but shown on the program. Then, sometime in the 90's breastfeeding became a dirty, backroom, type thing.
We can't show a woman breastfeeding her child! What would people think? One blogger says "its nasty". Nasty??? Does this doo-doo head have a subscription to Sports Illustrated and if so, does he throw away his swimsuit issue which, hands down, shows more boob than a breastfeeding mother. Don't get me started on the fact that I'm pretty sure this doo-doo head has probably seen a copy or two of Playboy.
I breastfed both children. With #2, I often turned on the tv, often to PBS & Sesame Street so that I could have a few quiet minutes to breastfeed. It occupied #1, kept him entertained, but he often snuggled up next to us. He has seen my boobs, frankly he has seen me naked-often. Come on people, I can't even go to the bathroom without someone opening the door (even the dog). Last night I locked the door so no one would interrupt my call to nature and my 4 year old laid down outside the door and was talking to me through the bottom of the door. His fingers wiggling frantically "mommy, are you ok?" Mostly because I rarely close the door all the way so that I can hear what is going on out there in crazyland.
Why do people think that he is going to be traumatized by seeing my boobs? If seeing me on the toilet, in the shower (mom whacha ya doin in der???) hasn't done it yet, then certainly me feeding the baby isn't going to cause great psychologicl harm.
He knows that this is how babies eat. Some babies eat from a bottle, sometimes babies drink from mommy, but under no circumstances does the baby eat what he is eating. This rule was established so that he didn't think he should give his 2 month old sister a cheerio.
I'm not a breastfeeding crazy person. I whole heartedly believe that everyone should feed their baby the way they feel most comfortable and what works best for their family. I know mom's who needed dad to take an overnight shift, so they bottle fed at night. I know moms who needed to know exactly how many ounces went in and just couldn't deal with the unknown that goes with breastfeeding. Both those babies are happy and healthy!!! Shock!!!
I also know mom's who breastfed exclusively for over 12 months. I know moms who pumped at work dispite the inconvience because it was important to them. There babies are healthy and don't have any boob hang ups.
What is it with Americans? Why do we make this an issue? We are so self conscience about bodies, sex, anything to do with boobs... Why was breastfeeding okay in the 70s and 80s, but why not in the 90s? As someone with a social science background I'd love to research this question. I'd love to do research and really consider why and what happened to cause us to think that breastfeeding was "nasty".
I have a feeling that the readers here are more on the pro-breastfeeding side, but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear from anyone who agrees with Sesame Street's current stance on NOT showing breastfeeding on its show. I'd love to hear WHY??? What is the downfall? What is the concern? Please share!!!
