'Chest feeding' a threat to breastfeeding?

[musicalfrog]

I've just witnessed women being called bigots for querying the use of the term 'chest feeding' on a breastfeeding support forum! And posts querying this are being deleted. This is not the most supportive atmosphere for anyone trying to get help on their breastfeeding journey surely? I get that it's tricky ground for the moderators but even so - babies are fed from breasts whether it's from a woman or a man, right? I honestly can't see the need for a new term here, especially when it's causing such disharmony. Could anyone enlighten me?

It's just insanity. Men have breasts too, men can get breast cancer. I have no enlightenment to offer you. It's just unnecessary language.

There is absolutely no need for it you are right, because both males and females have breasts.
Both male and females can get breast cancer for instance. We don’t call male breasts - chests?

It’s utter nonsense.

It is purely to remove the rights of women.

How many transmen actually go on to get pregnant and breastfeed? Probably very very small numbers compared to the many women who do so - are transmen offended that it is called breastfeeding? Probably not. But even if the very very small number are...do we have to change a medically correct description???

But we mustn’t forget the men. The men are offended that providing milk from a breast is something only a woman can do. And if you’re a trans woman you can’t. Because your body is genetically male.

Let us not upset the men!!! Let’s change our words even though they are medically correct, to remove the female aspect.

It’s madness. Utter shite.

It’s madness. Utter shite
I totally agree with you!

This whole chest feeding thing has got me feeling like the whorls has gone mad!! Men have breast tissue and get breast cancer. A trans man who chooses to feed their baby from their breasts (if they still have them) is breastfeeding. I don't see any way round it...and not do I see a need to relabel something when mammary glands are required to lactate and mammary glands are contained in breasts...possibly we could call breastfeeding "mammary feeding"?? Whatever this whole "chestfeeding" is just ridiculous.

*world not whorls!!

The world has cracked up. Pregnant person , chest feeding ... it's the erasure of women from pregnancy and child birth so that mens feelings dont get hurt. I fear it's only going to get worse as well. Scary times

These online groups are often run by people who wield their power like dictators. It always was the same from the advent of the internet. I don’t know the answer aside from not using them as r just arbitrarily following the rules. There’s basically nothing in the middle!

@Wearywithteens

I’m not a lawyer but I’d say that not allowing breast feeding mothers to use the term ‘breast feeding’ which is anatomically accurate, and therefore reducing their ability to contribute fully to a support group for breast feeding mothers, is discrimination under the Equality Act.

That's not actually what happened (check my OP). But my worry is that women will feel sufficiently alienated by simply raising a query/objection to the (unnecessary) term, that they will no longer find it a supportive atmosphere and therefore leave, and therefore lose the support they were hoping for. This can only be bad for breastfeeding as a whole imo.

The world has to suit men first and foremost. If we make a fuss we are unreasonable bigots. Ever was and ever shall be. Yes I'm bloody mad and teetering on going full blown activist terf.

And actually the censorship itself (deleting said queries) adds to the distrust. In my opinion.

I remember when DS had a bout of balinitis, and the GP asked me what family words we used for penis so that she could adopt our language in order for DS to understand.

I am absolutely fine with people using words they feel comfortable with to describe their own bodies and happy to support those choices. In return I expect the same respect and understanding of the words I use to describe my own body parts.

To me, chest is on the inside, so it seems a bit strange, but people muddle vagina and vulva and others understand what they mean.

Does that mean mastitis is now a chest infection
That could be tricky if you need the correct treatment. Correct terms are important. If reality is bigoted then hard luck

I don't think reality is bigoted, I just think someone is having a laugh somewhere along the line - it's the kind of thing that makes you think it's deliberately pushed to try and trip up all the other anti 'bigot' stuff.

And I think the vagina/vulva thing is not even comparable. This is a more far reaching problem if it's making women feel uncomfortable in a place where they need the most intimate of support. As a breastfeeding advocate, this concerns me greatly.

Even if you believe in gender bullshit it doesn't make sense. Breasts produce milk. Chests don't. Calling them breasts doesn't take away from anyone's 'gender identity'. If a women can have a penis and a man can have a vagina surely anyone can have breasts? The only reason is to take away what women have.

It doesn’t bother me. If a trans man feeding a baby prefers the term chest feeding because they find the term breastfeeding triggers body dysmorphia or is alienating, it doesn’t harm me for them to be accommodated. There is room for both terms imo.