breastfeeding advert inNorhtern Ireland, gives me the rage

[Badweekjustgotworse]

Ok I know its coming from a place of good intentions but honestly every time this ad comes on it gives me the rage.

I've been trying to unpick why and I think it boils down to the fact that the message seems to be, you shouldn't apologise for breastfeeding... but the only way they could get that message across was to contrast it with all the ways that it IS ok to apologise. FFS women are so socialised to apologise for fucking everything and heres an advert that appears to sanction that culture when it should be empowering women to stop apologising for being female.

Rage.

If I was in any way tech savvy I'd love to do a pistake version and youtube it to highlight the stupidity of the delivery of the message. any suggestions for a takedown?

It certainly wasn't intended to be disingenuous but if that's how you choose to view it then nothing I can do...

Certainly wasn't a personal attack either...

I haven't made any sweary comments about anyone...or their voices..or there weaknesses...

Maybe we speak different languages and that is the problem..

Again..

I apologise..

It must be a celt thing!!.. I even apologise for things that I havent done

A lot of English people do it too.

Lol...do they @hipsterfun....is it regional generational or just personality do you think??.i have met plenty of people on the other hand who never seem to apologise...even if they are wrong!

It’s a female thing!! That’s the whole point of the thread!

m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/kadie-regan/women-apologising_b_15213728.html

Of course it’s ok for formula to be marketed aggressively resulting in the deaths of infants world wide but an advert promoting breastfeeding without shame? How shocking.

To be fair it’s reasonable to apologise for your pram getting in peoples way, I do, it actually affects other people around you. It’s not reasonable to apologise for breastfeeding, that’s what the advert is portraying.

I have mixed feelings about it- the constant apologising thing is something I do even in a professional setting and I hate it. I shouldn't need or be expected to say sorry for voicing an opinion or "being a bitch" (ie bit telling people what they want to hear) or just apologising for taking too long to get my purse out! I don't want this vein of women feeling like they have to say sorry to people for merely existing to be propagated in the media any more than it is already. But equally the BF being the only thing this wishy-washy character doesn't apologise for is quite charming. The radio ad is awful though- the voice is so whiny.

I know one woman who breastfed here, my mate's mum. And we're 30 this year ffs. There's positives in that my own attitude and that of my friends is "ill give it a go and if it doesn't work out sure I can FF" without feeling like a failure or any of the other negative emotions that often come with being unable to BF successfully. But more so it's very sad that there are so many women who have missed out on being able to even try it due to lack of support or even just knowing someone that did it, rather go straight to the bottle. In the past BF had connotations of being for poor people who couldn't afford to feed their baby formula, or rural catholics who had no choice or used it as a means of contraception. There is definitely still a hangover of that, and that's why some people still have bloody backwards views on it and liken it to being like a cow or whatever.

An example of the attitude more generally here happened recently when I saw a well endowed acquaintance and her newborn, and the baby was hungry and crying and kept turning in to her breast. "She smells the milk", she said, as she asked her partner to hand her the bottle from the nappy bag. She then admitted she hadn't given it a go or even thought about BF as it was gross. Baby was well cared for and obviously loved, but it made me feel really sad despite my "meh" attitude about BF in general.

I've never seen it as a female thing to always be apologising, I just know that the Irish do it more than most. Someone stepped on my foot once and I apologised.

I think it's an Irish thing to be overly apologetic. I know my OH would apologise in most of the situations depicted in the ad, so can't see what the issue is?! I think it's a great ad, my DS likes it too and it provoked a great conversation with him about breastfeeding.