To be offended by the term ‘Chestfeeding’

[Coco2891]

The Breastfeeding Network (UK) has just shared an article on Facebook from Kellymom about trans people and the term ‘chestfeeding’ and that people should be asked what they would like it reffered to as by their health visitor-having not read a lot about the trans movement I am a bit behind on it all but this term has really got up my nose ! I’m tired and hormonal btw so any other day it may not have bothered me enough to post on the internt about it 🙄

Call me old fashioned but I cannot get my head round these things ... if you are born a woman, then at some point decide you are a man, then how do you continue to use your vagina for sex, get pregnant and give birth? Men, that is the sex you identify with and wish to live as, do none of those things.

I think given that probably about 99% at least of people who will be doing the breastfeeding do not need an alternative option, the default should be breastfeeding as a term. If a transman who has given birth and intends to feed using their breasts wants it to be called chest feeding, then they can make that clear themselves rather than expecting a total rebranding of the act to serve them.

Likewise, I reject entirely the prospect of being called a cervix haver/menstruator etc when it makes way more sense to serve the 99% plus of women by just calling them women.

Language is important.

I don’t object to someone wanting to use the term ‘chestfeeding’ in relation to themselves but I would object if I had to use the term ‘cheatfeeding’ for the purpose of being inclusive and not being offensive. I personally breastfeed, I don’t chestfeed. I also don’t like being told what to do and what to say

It's breastfeeding. You need breasts to breastfeed. Chestfeeding doesn't exist.

And yes I don't get how you can have gender dysphoria over your breasts and vagina yet give birth and breastfeed.

In the very rare situation of a transman breastfeeding, ask them what term they prefer, no need to call it chestfeeding in any other situation.

This

This language is a way of eradicating the sex class ‘woman’. We are 51% of the population, yet we are being subjected to the whims of approx 1% of the population.
I find it degrading and I am so angry about this. I will not refer to my beautiful 21 year old daughter as a cervix haver.

Make no mistake, if we don’t object to this now, strongly then this will become the norm.
As one trans woman said ‘enjoy your erasure’ .

Is a trans man has had a mastectomy then are they still able to breastfeed?

It usually depends upon how much damage their is to the nipple area, which may be moved during the procedure.

People undergoing breast reduction are warned that it might affect their ability to breastfeed in future.

I can't imagine being so sensitive as to be upset at being asked a question about which terminology I prefer. Just answer the question and move on with your life.

I don’t really understand how it could be triggering to hear the words ‘breasts’, but not triggering to feed a baby with those breasts.

They’re just asking what you prefer. If you don’t like the term chestfeeding don’t use it. Surely it’s that simple?

But ‘breastfeeding’ isn’t just an arbitrary collection of syllables, it’s the word referring to the body part in question. You don’t have to call them breasts if you don’t want to but it’s still what they are. To talk women through breastfeeding you need to understand how breasts, as an organ, work. What if a pregnant woman says “I don’t like the term ‘uterus’, a uterus is what a woman has and I don’t like the idea of you seeing me as a woman, please refer to my baby as being gestated in my stomach”? Should we all just say “oh, uterus, stomach, same thing!” and not “it’s a bit worrying that she feels so divorced from her body she can’t use the correct terminology to refer to it”?

You now what, there is zero bullshit like this in the animal kingdom, we could learn a thing or two. In other words, lets just get on with living rather than all this dissecting

I need to educate myself on this better so heading over to feminism

If you want to educate yourself, there are better places.

I felt sorry for that baby in the Kellymom article who had to have regular bloods taken so their "Dad" could keep taking testosterone while "chestfeeding"

A bit off topic, but I watched something about a trans man being pregnant and giving birth. It was on BBC3.

Whilst pregnant their main concern was all about language. They were worried about being called “she”, “Mum” etc. They were also adamant they would have top and bottom surgery as soon as possible after the baby.
When the baby was a few weeks old the person spoke about how they had been misgendered in hospital, but it hadn’t mattered as everyone was kind. They also weren’t sure about surgery anymore as their body had done such a wonderful thing.
I just felt sad that this woman had to go through birth to stop them thinking they needed to mutilate their body. It’s all bonkers!

“I need to educate myself on this better so heading over to feminism

If you want to educate yourself, there are better places.“

I disagree. The femisinist board is a fantastic place to learn about this topic. It’s full of intelligent, resourceful women, who go out of their way to back up their thinking with actual facts, by quoting studies and research.

I felt sorry for that baby in the Kellymom article who had to have regular bloods taken so their "Dad" could keep taking testosterone while "chestfeeding"

Meanwhile, breastfeeding mothers everywhere agonise about whether they can take paracetamol or not 😳

Chestfeeding. No. Just no no no no no.

Which part of the chest does the milk come out of?

Oh yeah...the BREAST.

seriously what a load of old bollocks.

YANBU op. This is utterly ridiculous and would be laughable if it wasn't gaining so much power as a movement

Can't be doing with reading the article, but just to say that I found Kellymom really useful when I was breastfeeding. She has loads of good advice and tips, but I wouldn't bother with any of the background chat/political points. It was a few years ago now that I last used the site, but there was a lot of practical stuff there I couldn't get anywhere else. Even then, I had to overlook some of the stupid political points. It was easy enough to stick to the facts about breastfeeding (techniques, tips for mastitis and so on) and ignore the rest.

I am sure most normal people can cope with the horror of a HCP saying "do you prefer chest feeding or breast feeding? Excellent, breast feeding it is"

No - it would make me worry about their grasp on basic anatomy and clinics are time pressured enough without the confusion that bizarre question would raise - it sounds like there is some magic alternative to breastfeeding that isn’t bottle feeding that somehow involves using the chest cavity.

I am a woman, I have a chest on which sit my breasts. Those breasts do not take up the whole chest area.

I fed my babies from those breasts.

My DH has a chest, he has a smaller area around the nipple that is breast tissue, but it is still breast tissue and he could get cancer there.

He did not feed our babies from them.

The chest is not a gender neutral term for the mammary glands. There is no such thing as chest cancer - if the phrase was used, then it would be confused with lung cancer or any other cancer that takes place within the chest cavity. Doctors ask ‘ may I listen to your chest ? ‘

It’s a twisting abuse of language in order to suit a very particular, narrow agenda. Those PPs seeking to make it seem a widespread problem of ‘all’ those pregnant pre Op ( if post op, they could not actually give birth, surely or breastfeed anyway ?) transmen being offended by the term are being ridiculous or have malign intent.

I know a man who had breast cancer - he noticed a lump, thought it was a cyst, GP had him tested, he had treatment - he didn’t seek to call it anything else, just talked about quite widely in order to raise awareness that it is not just a female problem.

Where I am, breastfeeding rates are vanishingly low and it’s seen as very middle class and a bit “weird” by a lot of women, despite the nhs push.

Referring to chestfeeding will only entrench the views of those women and make breastfeeding seem even more inaccessible and unfamiliar to them.

This isn’t about anyone’s feelings, trans or not. It’s about control.

I don't think anyone can or will ever make us say 'chest-feeding'.

If a transman gives birth, and it makes them happier to refer to it that way, then that's their choice surely? No-one would want to stop anyone else using a certain phrase about their own body.

Please stop the world.

Seriously.

I want to get off.