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Wanna guess how the Prime Minister's baby is being fed?

473 replies

foxytocin · 10/10/2010 11:00

Go on, have a guess then open the link.

here

OP posts:
violethill · 11/10/2010 23:39

Pretty scary

But not as scary as being related to some of the jokers who've posted here

MaMoTTaT · 12/10/2010 00:05

what Porto!!! you're distantly related to SamCam

Wink
foxytocin · 12/10/2010 05:17

and amazed that this thread still has life in it.

I asked the op as a wry comment on the way of the world these days. Of course it immediately took its own turn as the ways of MN goes.

Seeing some of the shrill responses it provoked, I am guilty of stoking the MN overreaction that afternoon. So my 'unhinged' remarks were comments to the silly deductions on what some posters were screaming about rather than any comment on the Camerons.

I have no opinion on SamCam though she is undoubtedly a great mum. In fact I didn't even know how many children she had so when some poster said 4, I thought that was 4 living ones and Ivan. But the insinuations of how nasty and unhinged I was had taken on a life of its own, so what was the point? I inadvertently gave MN something unfortunate to bond over.

For example, I said I cared how Flo is being fed. But I missed out that I also do care very much how every baby in the UK is fed on a whole population basis. I don't care one jot on how any individual baby is fed, including FloRo, as long as it isn't watered down or contaminated formula, coke, tea, or frootshoots.

But the schoolgirl gang had found their whipping boy so I let them have it.

I think it is massively naive to ignore that these photos were planned by the Government's PR people. And the baby feeding one was not thought through properly. When they discussed (as I have gleaned from this thread) that Flo is mix fed, they obviously thought that was the best answer to give to the question. Whether it was true or false is not relevant. What is relevant is that they would have screened the questions first and decided which ones were fit to answer and which ones not to answer and how to answer them.

For a geek like me, this is a hugely political photograph. Mix feeding undermines the NHS's and WHO's recommendations and he is a hugely influential figure. While it may not matter to us how his baby is fed. His public image of feeding matters to everyone and it is a hugely political topic. The politically astute thing, if mix feeding is the truth in his baby's case, is not to answer the question. Like they will have of other questions in the past and in the future, they should have ditched this question. And it is none of our business, anyway as so many have rightly pointed out. And no one would have questioned why they had not commented on the baby's feeding method. But putting it in the public sphere when you are a politician was clearly a choice and invites comment if we still live in a democracy.

They may not know, as parents, that this is a political subject, but the people they pay to interface with the media ought to. And their ignorance ought to be cleared up for the Cameron's benefit and the other babies in the UK. Because Mr Cameron and his cabinet ministers will be called upon to make decisions on many levels which will influence what and how the babies of this country will be fed.

BUT: to answer it and then to put a bottle feeding (note, I did not say formula feeding) image in the press invites me and other geeks like myself to comment on it. They and you may not like what I have said but that is how free press and the quirks of human nature work together.

And what is your role in this 400+ thread? you fed it.

As Porto said, maybe no one ought to feel sorry for the Camerons or Flo as they and she and her siblings are especially privileged. My comment about 'if my dh had the money that DC had...' was about what I would do with it, not a comment on how Sam is living or should live with it. That is none of my business. But once more, the shrillness was amazing. It spoke more about the posters than it did about me as I was talking about me, not comparing myself to a woman I know virtually nothing about. I do believe that three million could make misery a whole lot more comfortable. Wink

I find it sad on a feminist level that so much 'poor Sam' was reflected upon. Speculation that maybe she has pnd, maybe she is not coping with all the upheaval in her life, maybe she had little choice in the taking and publishing of these photos were, could be patronizing to the real woman who she may actually be. While any or all of these may be true, maybe, just maybe too, she is a strong woman who has weathered a lot of turbulence and upheaval in her life and maybe just maybe not everyday but most days things are a lot better than a lot worse than it could be.

The political history of the UK has a lot of very intelligent, astute, assertive, charming, driven prime ministers' wives. Likewise, world history has quite a few notable ones who were as driven, if not more so than their husbands. Why can't some of us also give Sam the benefit of the doubt that she is one of them, even now with all the recent difficulties, and advantages, in her life right now. These photos and interview charm offensive may have her complete backing.

I don't agree with them (the Cameron's and their press people) sticking their family in the papers and press but it is their prerogative to do so and should not be much surprise if it isn't to everyone's acceptance and someone, as tactless as I can be sometimes, will comment on it.

The funniest comment for me was maybe Sam didn't want to get her baps out in front of the press. Erm, later I saw at the bottom of one of the photos that these photos were taken by the family's private photographer. And what is wrong with getting your baps out and showing the world how baby FloRo is mostly fed rather than occasionally fed. Plus the last time I looked there are feeding bras and feeding tops and most times babies just look like they are getting a cuddle anyway. Lets just perpetuate the myth on here that breastfeeding necessitates 'getting your baps out'. A lovely family photograph of mum, dad and baby not necessarily feeding at the time, would have made me go 'ahhh'.

But we got the politically expedient image of Dave being one of the like he has never been instead.

I expect that what I have said will by read hypercritically by lot of you all out there for many different reasons. I am busy to listen much and few MNers know enough about me to comment on my intentions and motivations, so as it is a free press, write as you see fit. that is primarily why I remain a MNer.

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 12/10/2010 07:03

I agree with Foxy here that if you're going to have photos (a) taken by your personal photographer for political or PR purposes and (b) have them published, then you're going to attract comment.

However, I also feel a bit Hmm at the lack of sisterly feeling towards a woman who is surely doing the best she can (as we all do, right?) for her family, despite the relative privilege. Can we cut a Conservative woman a little slack as far as her mothering decisions are concerned? The speculation about PND is disgusting and really, really sad. It's not a suitable topic for gossip.

Her decision to have the photos taken and then published (this was hardly done in the teeth of opposition on the part of SC) is another matter though. I don't like to see politicians using their children as props.

violethill · 12/10/2010 07:14

What a total crock of patronising shite.

People didn't decide on the 'right' response to give. People posted in response to a pretty unintelligent OP and follow up which were all over the place, veering between the occasional vaguely interesting point interspersed with ranting hysteria.

You seem determined to try to set yourself up as an authority on political PR and how to deconstruct images. If you were any good at it I'd guess you'd be channelling your energy into a career where these skills are used, or at least writing more intelligently, rather than setting yourself up as some half-baked political commentator on mumsnet!

foxytocin · 12/10/2010 07:19

"People didn't decide on the 'right' response to give. People posted in response to a pretty unintelligent OP and follow up which were all over the place, veering between the occasional vaguely interesting point interspersed with ranting hysteria."

i'ven addressed that already, Vi.

as for the rest of your post, it is, like your opinion of mine, a crock of shite.

OP posts:
piscesmoon · 12/10/2010 07:29

Good grief it was a photo!! You really are giving into government PR if you read all that into it!! Nice picture-end of story-good luck to them.

violethill · 12/10/2010 07:32

Agree pisces. She's a cod-psychologist/political commentator who can't see that she's a sucker for it more than most!

crockydoodle · 12/10/2010 07:52

YABU, none of your business how anyone else feeds their children.

Hullygully · 12/10/2010 07:57

Foxy - there's no point. None so blind etc...

violethill · 12/10/2010 07:57

Actually I have to say, I do admire the OP's passion for her subject. Maybe she should channel it through training as a teacher of politics or psychology.

Please god stay away from anything more advanced than GCSE though. And please god not in my kids' schools! Grin

pommedeterre · 12/10/2010 08:20

She's a mum doing what she can. Breastfeeding is so personal it does not matter if your husband is a binman, the prime minister, the president or that male bf-ing guru. That is why sometimes to make it such a political issue feels very wrong. That is why so many women walk around at a very difficult time of their life feeling like they've 'failed'. Not fair.
Saying she should feed for photos is also a pile of shit. Breastfeeding in public, especially when baby is still little and latching on needs concentration is about as much fun as an electric shock ime. If she doesn't want to do this for photos then guess what? She doesn't fecking have to.
And also? If the government puts the NHS, schoolcare, crime prevention and several other important societal matters above breastfeeding on the public money agenda then they are... correct.

Northernlurker · 12/10/2010 08:24

foxytocin - your post is a lengthy bit of self justification. Can I ask did you mean it to be so amusing in it's self righteousness?

MrsDrOwenHunt · 12/10/2010 08:41

i dont really care how the baby is fed because shes not my baby and its not my choice, mothers do not have to bf and if they want to ff its their choice, we are not sheep that all have to follow each other!

upahill · 12/10/2010 08:56

Has no one said 'Poor little mite' yet?
That normally gets thrown in on the bf/ff debates.

monkeyfacegrace · 12/10/2010 09:10

Haha, if you all want a laugh, take a look at not so foxy's photos! Urghhhhhhh...

Hullygully · 12/10/2010 10:18

Oh the intellect and class of you few is truly staggering.

Strix · 12/10/2010 12:14

I am thinking that if I was ever lucky enough to wear an £800 dress that I would empty my tits of milk before I put it on. And if I had a hungry baby and husband I'd put the bottle in one of his hands right after I haded him the baby.

Just a thought...

However, I don't care how other people choose to feed their babies. It's just really not a subject worthy of my attention.

Do you think the MMR was to Tony Blair as the bottle will be to David Cameron?

foxytocin · 12/10/2010 13:25

About the placenta on my profile for those of you who have been nosy willing to ridicule it's presence there.

Yeah, it is a placenta. It is also a very good example of a rare-ish type of placenta. A MW can go years without seeing one, according to my very experienced MW who also said it was a textbook one. So that is why I put it so geekily on my profile.

And it saves me from putting my face on my profile.

OP posts:
daftpunk · 12/10/2010 13:30

Crikey..... LoL

Maybe slightly 'over sharing' ?

AdelaofBlois · 12/10/2010 13:34

I'm not a birth mother, so obviously find the idea motherhood=breastfeeding thing hard when it seems so much more, but really do think ther eis more to being a parent than that and that to judge on that alone is odd.

But is the baby feeding? Or is it just having a bottle of something (surely not EBM in that big a bottle at that age?) stuck in its gob for a couple of seconds while someone from Tory central office takes a snap, showing Cameron as a good dad?

laughalot · 12/10/2010 13:34

Both my children were bottle fed and they are both still alive and kicking.

TwoIfBySea · 12/10/2010 13:36

Poor little mite

Grin

Feel better now upahill?

Strix · 12/10/2010 13:39

Regarding placenta pic...

EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW...

Why did I look?

When DS was born (section) a doctor came round before I went into theatre and said she was doing a study and wanted to know if she could inspect the placenta. And I said "So long as you promise not to show it to me."

yuck

nameymcnamechange · 12/10/2010 13:42

Its not very nice of people to comment in a disparaging way about your placenta picture, but I don't think you can accuse people of being nosey for having a look at your public profile.