Little known chick-lit writer had anti-bf rant in local rag

[Udderly]

www.herald.ie/opinion/columnists/marisa-mackle/marisa-mackle-breast-is-best-when-its-not-in-public-2508344.html

In reaction to the Miranda kerr pic. What a small minded woman. Anyone actually heard of her?

By the sounds of the writer of the article she probably only ever gets invited out to lunch once a year. After writing that she probably won't get invited again so she can sit in her house safe in the knowledge that no babies will be fed near her and she dream of the lunch dates she could have had if only she weren't so fecking miserable.

Here is my letter to the editor of the rag:

Dear Sir

Marisa Mackle really, really hates breastfeeding in public. She hates it so much that her friend made her uncomfortable at dinner that she thought she'd tell the country. I wonder how her "friend" feels about this?

Somewhere in Ireland a tired, anxious mum who is only trying to do her best for her child will probably cry when she reads this. Another one will feed her baby in a cold and dirty stone toilet the next time she goes out. Why? So that people like Marisa won't tut tut at what they're doing instead of having to look away for the split second it takes for a baby to begin a feed. Someone else will buy a poncho or a shawl, not aware yet that actually the surest way to get people to look at you feeding in public is to pull a massive garment over your head. Contrary to Marisa's protestations, it is possibly the least discreet way of feeding imaginable, suggesting her discomfort is probably less to do with discretion and more to do with how she actually feels about breastfeeding.

Marisa is "appalled" by a picture of a woman who is showing less breast than your average X-factor contestant. What sort of warped society do we live in that something so innocent is seen as being so perverted? Marisa Mackle really, really hates breastfeeding in public? Well I really, really hate women who think they can judge and upset other women in a national paper because a type of infant feeding apparently interfered with them drinking a second glass of wine.

Yours,

Working9While5

:) YAY! :)

Excellent letter writing!

working9while5 fab letter

I have had a response already! They are doing a 2 page special to redress the issue on Fri and will print the letter!

Anyone else who wants to join in:
mailto:[email protected]

Why on earth shouldn't slebs have pics of themselves breastfeeding and also advertise the fact they had a natural birth. It's bloody painful - so why shouldn't they wallow in their glory for a few minutes.

As for the lactation comsultants etc - that's just silly. No one can be with you 24 hrs a day and it's only them that can feed a baby.

I particularly admire Danni Minogue for feeding as long as she did whilst appearing on X factor ( and looked amazing) I love all these positive images of celebrities with their babies - I think it's very good for breastfeeding.

As for this silly woman who wrote the article....green giant comes to mind

Coming soon to your hospital bounty bag: your breastfeeding burka - lest you offend. You know it makes sense.

Wow, i'm only catching up on the responses now! Very well written letter working9while5, I'm glad they are addressing it. I emailed her directly to the address on her website. Its being discussed on Irish boards as well, and the truly hilarious thing is that this lady has one of those 'I'd rather go naked' shoots on her Bebo (!?!) page where you can see ....... plenty of her baps

www.bebo.com/c/photos/view?MemberId=5001927074&PhotoNbr=1&PhotoAlbumId=7367607314

Apparently she has a book (children's!!) coming out this week so it has been suggested that its all a bit of a PR stunt to drum up publicity.

Come on ladies, think of the passers by, some of whom did a double take. Imagine if one of them had tripped up? Breastfeeding in public is a public health hazard.

I'm sure no-one would have done a double take if the lady in question had been wearing a huge poncho and fiddling about underneath it.

Yes, that's the non-attention-seeking way forward, from now on instead of pulling my shirt up and quietly popping my baby on the boob, I will make a huge fuss, get my poncho out of my bag, ask someone to hold the baby while I put it on, then spend a good 10 minutes trying to get the little one latched on without being able to see her.

And while I'm concentrating on not breastfeeding in public "because it makes others feel ill at ease", I'll also make sure not to:

be disabled
be black
have a lisp or stutter
be overweight
be underweight
be tall
be short
smoke
be smug about the fact that I've given up smoking
write an annoying ill-informed column

Wouldn't want to make anyone feel ill at ease, would I?

Hearty larfter at RJandA - send that one to the editor, too :) :)

Ridiculous article.

[bsmile]

On a serious note, does anyone know what the law is in Ireland? Marisa said no-one said anything negative to the mum in question, pretty sure I'm right in saying that in the UK, if they had, then they would be breaking the law and the mum could ask the management to resolve the situation (hopefully by chucking Marisa out before she gets a taste of her second glass).

I was caught reading Marisa's column and my friend who saw me reading it was very embarrassed - she found it difficult to stop staring at me, with a sort of astonished 'why on earth read that crapola?' look on her face, even though she did not say anything.

Some people passed by and saw me with the Herald open at that page, through the window. Some of them did a double take (I suppose I don't look the sort to waste my time with drivel).

But you know, all I was doing was something normal and natural - reading rubbish, just as anyone has a right to do. I know some people would say I should hide the column away, under a copy of The Beano or something, so no one has to see what I'm doing. Or maybe I should go into the toilet to read it.

I'm not going to! I am going to continue reading this tripe in public, and if people are uncomfortable about seeing me doing it, then that's their problem!

OMFG and

I read a book by this woman when I was staying in a holiday cottage place. It had been left behind.

It was, and I'm not remotely exaggerating, the worst book I have ever read. I work in publishing and I was astonished, really astonished, at how bad it was. I have quite wide-ranging taste and I freely admit to liking decent chick-lit; some of it is good. Some of it. But this was seriously, seriously terrible, clearly just desperate cashing-in-on-the-chick-lit-trend stuff. It was probably about 8-10 years ago, I think.

Anyway, so then I looked on Amazon and her books all have about 97 five-star reviews which, when you read them, are VERY obviously sock puppets. Roffle roffle at her popping up again - I haven't thought about it/her in years and had actually forgotten her name, but when I saw your thread title a tiny spark of recollection was lit and presto, it is indeed her.

I'm not going to click through and read her article though. It would be 3 more minutes of my life that I'd never get back. The time wasted on the "novel" was enough

I've never heard of this author but thanks for posting the link. If I ever come across her novels - say on the dusty bookshelf of a provincial Bed and Breakfast or in one of the less choosy charity shops, I will know to avoid.

Ha ha - I honestly x-posted with you DirtyMartini!

lolol

OK, I did actually click through and read it after saying I wouldn't.

1. What a shitty friend she sounds. Wonder what her bfing lunch companion will think of the article? Oh hang on, wait, it's probably an entirely made-up anecdote anyway.

1. If people are going to attention-seek by spouting this kind of silly bullshit under the guise of sassy straight talking, you'd think they could muster something a little less half-arsed. The Victoria's Secret reference isn't even original; I'm sure I saw a reference on another thread to some other knobhead (Mail commenter maybe?) slating Miranda Kerr by saying she looked like she was posing for Victoria's Secret. So MM can't even generate her own nastiness, but recycles other people's.

And you say she is writing a children's book? Dear Lord. Publishing really is going to the dogs.

I'm torn about whether or not to write to the editor. Surely a full inbox will just make them think "Ooh, Marisa really gets the readers fired up. Let's pay her another £500 for a few more cobbled-together "daring" opinion pieces"?

I do understand the importance of objecting to people who rubbish breastfeeding in this way. But still, part of me would rather this kind of crap was met with withering silence. Though obviously I'm undermining that somewhat by posting on a thread about it

Anyway - Marisa: I'm sure you've Googled yourself and are reading this. Your writing is terrible, and your opinions are very silly indeed. Epic fail, as I believe the young hipsters say these days.

SummerRain, your letter is great.

Is that your real name at the bottom, though? maybe best not to let it stay on the thread?

DM - I'm pretty sure it's been on MN before but i'll ask MNHQ to edit it out. God darn copy and paste!

Reading that article actually did make me cry . I had my baby nearly 4 weeks ago and he BFs really well. I have no friends in this area as I moved here not long ago and my DH works so I am alone all day. I have suffered very badly with depression in the past and I am petrified of getting PND. The only thing that keeps me sane is being able to take my little son out for a few hours for a walk and to get a coffee. Yesterday I fed him at a cafe for the first time and it went really well. It took me weeks to build up to doing it as I was very nervous and I am aware of attitudes like the ones expressed by this turd of a woman. What would she like me to do? Stay at home all day on my own, never seeing another soul until my DH gets home in the evening? I can't plan my day around his feeds as he is quite erratic so if I resolved never to feed him outdoors I would be a virtual prisoner in my own house. This so called woman would rather I sat in on my own and developed depression rather than "upsetting" the public who in my experience couldn't give a toss if a lady is feeding near them. Yesterday no one took a blind bit of notice of me when I was feeding.

I actually have tears running down my face as I type this which I know might seem pathetic but to have such shitty attitudes endorsed in a paper makes me so sad and angry that I am livid. I have to say even though I know she's just an idiot it has dented my confidence. I will feed in public again but I know if a stupid person like her commented to me I would fall apart When I feel a bit more sane I will write a letter to the Herald about this. I don't think pieces like hers should be printed as they are harmful.

WriterofDreams

Take consolation from the fact that while we all like to glower over stories of breastfeeding mothers being snubbed or harassed, this is actually quite a tolerant country to feed in public. I have not ever, not once, encountered a negative comment, not so much as a black look thrown my way, in two years of breastfeeding DS1. As you say, yesterday you fed your baby and nobody batted an eyelid. That's the way it will continue. And if you were ever unfortunate enough to cop a nasty comment, you will be, by then, confident and happy enough to ignore them or rebuff them with the contempt they deserve!

I'm really sorry that you're finding it hard to cope - having a small baby can be very isolating. Can you maybe do a Mumsnet Local search and see if there are any local meet-ups? (NB: other parenting forums are available. Netmums is often better at a local level, I find.)

So here's what i sent without my name at the end :

Dear Editor,

I was appalled to stumble across the piece of vitriol your paper published on Monday by Marissa Mackle titled ' Breast is best when it's not in public'.

Would an article entitled 'Bottles are an eyesore so please don't feed your baby in public' have been printed by your paper? No, of course it wouldn't because it's ludicrous, attention seeking and alienates a substantial proportion of your readers. So why has The Herald allowed Ms. Mackle's utter ignorance and unpleasant attitude to be inflicted on the readers, do those offended by it simply not number greatly enough amongst your readers? I think you may find you have underestimated the proportion of your readers who have at one point or another had to attempt the difficult and stressful task of attaching a fidgeting baby to the breast in a public setting and who felt self conscious enough about the act without imagining people such as Ms. Mackle tutting and glaring.

Babies have to be fed and a breast fed baby has as much right to be fed when and where needed without the mother having to hide in a filthy toilet or drape a stuffy cloth over her infants head to protect the sensibilities of others as a bottle fed baby has. I notice upon glancing through Ms. Mackle's back catalogue of articles that there don't seem to be any about topless sunbathing, page three models or scantily clad women.. maybe I missed them? However based on the hatred directed at Miranda Kerr for daring to breastfeed and have a natural birth I would wager a guess that Ms. Mackle has some deep seeded issues regarding her own parenting choices which might be best worked through with a professional counselor before she loses any more friends through her need to express her opinions on their parenting choices in national papers.

And for the record I have breastfed three babies and never once in all the times I had to feed them in public did a single person 'double take' or make me feel in any way uncomfortable... In fact in my experience the Irish public are incredibly accepting and encouraging of breastfeeding mothers and I have had some lovely comments whilst feeding my babies, Ms Mackle is most certainly in a minority in this country.