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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Chestfeeding/breastfeeding infographic

150 replies

MilkSpill · 27/06/2018 05:33

This has pushed me over the edge today. I'm not sure where it originated but it was shared by The Milk Meg on FB.

The chest feeding stuff really bothers me. It's not just women being erased, now it's babies too. Breastfeeding is not a performance to validate parental gender dysphoria. It's a human right of infants and women, which is systemically denied or used as a weapon against us. I'm not sure if I'm angrier at the TRA pushing this rubbish, or the women's advocates who are embracing it.

Chestfeeding/breastfeeding infographic
OP posts:
stillathing · 27/06/2018 08:05

I don't like being separated linguistically from the very parts of my body which have informed so much about my life. Yes I'm a human being first, but in a patriarchy being a rapeable lactating menstruating woman fucking means something. But like our rights and our bodies apparently our language is also to be given away.

stillathing · 27/06/2018 08:09

Also UK has some of the lowest rates of breastfeeding in the world. That tells you that women already feel woefully undersupported in motherhood. This hardly helps.

MilkSpill · 27/06/2018 08:10

knottybeams

Domperidone has an mhra alert against its prescription for all but "intractable vomiting in palliative care" due to arrythmias. That's why most GPs won't prescribe outside a trial for lactation. It's not just off label.

The arrhythmia findings have been in elderly men with preexisting medical conditions. Current evidence does not support withholding domperidone from otherwise healthy young women... but as we all know women can't be trusted to make decisions about our own health!

OP posts:
Alexa488 · 27/06/2018 08:22

I'm also incensed by this. OP is right about this noncentering of the baby. The only sign of a baby is the central logo, and even that is a sad depiction to me: the mother seems to be looking at us rather than at her baby, not giving her baby the special communication which breastfeeding promotes; the baby is reaching out for her attention but she's just posing, using the baby as a prop.

Alexa488 · 27/06/2018 08:26

And what's with the solo mum exclusively pumping when she's not working (see also "working mum", partly pumping partly breastfeeding).

shiklah · 27/06/2018 08:26

Where do I complain?
I exclusively breastfed, whilst working full time.
When do I get my special day?

Fishywishyhead · 27/06/2018 08:27

The UK has woeful breastfeeding rates. Any time or money spent on inclusivity is money taken away from encouraging woman to even try to breastfeed and frankly suggesting to gullible people that men can induce true lactation is dangerous.

HettiePeg · 27/06/2018 08:31

It’s absolutely rediculous. So much focus on being inclusive but what about the poor baby ffs

Wherismymind · 27/06/2018 08:37

I find it hard to understand how a trans man can hate their breasts so much that they refused to refer to them as such, but they keep them and use them to feed a child.

I understand it must be hard though accept your breasts if your gender dysphoric, but if your going to use them just accept that for that time they are breasts and you are breast feeding your child. Don't make the rest of the world change their language due to the personal issues of a small few.

However if couples want to share feeding, try and induce lactation or whatever, that's their business. It's their baby and up to them. I don't think it should really be promoted, as what's best for the baby is the only option that should be promoted, but we live in a world of selfish self centred people and organisations like that one will reflect that.

ErrolTheDragon · 27/06/2018 08:42

commenters worrying that the language around BF is "gendered"

As already noted 'breast' is perfectly applicable to men - they get breast cancer which is a different thing to any other cancer of the chest. If you're feeding a baby from your nipple you're breastfeeding. It's already an 'inclusive' term.

Waddlelikeapenguin · 27/06/2018 08:51

Nice to start the day with some rage Hmm

BREASTfeeding is about the mother-baby dyad.

Grandmaswagsbag · 27/06/2018 08:51

Wait so one trans person on record manages to successfully induce lactation and that’s enough to need to include them in a public awareness campaign? I do find this rather irritating that women are still dealing with all kinds of crap for breastfeeding and poor support from hcps. No prob with the other icons really though.

pombal · 27/06/2018 08:57

MilkSpill clearly the people you were dealing with are very ignorant about the mechanics of this.

This poster shows pumping, bottle feeding and breastfeeding all as a kind of pick ‘n’ mix whatever you fancy choice.

That is just not true.

DisturblinglyOrangeScrambleEgg · 27/06/2018 09:01

The only sign of a baby is the central logo, and even that is a sad depiction to me: the mother seems to be looking at us rather than at her baby

Oh god - you're right - it's just a bod holding a baby.

Generally these things it's a swoopy bod gazing at a baby/snuggling:

image search

And yes, I agree totally - where are the babies, why aren't the babies being centred. Breastfeeding is to feed a baby - there's simply no reason for a male to muck about with no thought for what the drugs/hormones may do to the child and induce lactation when there is perfectly good formula feed available, and plenty of ways to bond while caring for the baby. It's just experimenting with a baby for selfish reasons (unlike for example, extended feeding which women get all sorts of hassle for, despite it having no risk to the child at all, and the child generally being the one taking the lead on it)

Pratchet · 27/06/2018 09:02

The 'lactating men' are right at the top of that graphic. Priorities.

DryHeave · 27/06/2018 09:05

“Inclusive of everyone... except the ACTUAL baby.”

Alexa488 · 27/06/2018 09:34

I'm not sure about the "two dads" one if they're both dad's and it involves induced lactation, presumably neither of them is trans so, unlike the transperson illustrated the motivation isn't to promote their acquired gender expression so what is the motivation? They must have used a surrogate mother. I find that scenario antiwomen.

Imnobody4 · 27/06/2018 09:41

Looking them up it appears the graphic is from Canada and Milk Meg a blogger from Australia.This is what I find really scary - false info and crack pot ideas zoom round the world so easily. The same with chestfeeding, womb transplants - research can be done anywhere in the world and our ethic committee's can't control what is done. Then it's capitalism doing it's work.

ChickenMe · 27/06/2018 09:41

Reading the comments
Why are these women so keen to say that men can lactate ?
I mean - if they can lactate why ARENT they lactating?

Alexa488 · 27/06/2018 09:47

Well I think certain men delight in "proving" that women are inferior and even the things that only women can do, men can do too (or soon will) hence the two dads lactating theme.

BettyDuMonde · 27/06/2018 09:48

I had domperidone prescribed when my youngest was little. She had a posterior tongue tie, upper lip tie and cow’s milk protein allergy (and was born via planned c section) and had lost 16% of her birthweight by day 5 and was rushed into the children’s hospital and placed on a drip.

Getting my supply established was an utter nightmare and I had to use an at breast supplementer (and sweated curry spice due to fenugreek and ate oats everyday etc etc).

It was made very clear to me that if there was any history of heart trouble in my family it would not be prescribed (I had to take ten times the recommended dose for it’s on script use). If I hadn’t had already had a successful breastfeeding relationship with her brother AND clear, easy to access, free support I don’t think I would’ve made it through.

As it was she was off the prescription formula supplements at 5 months and fed til she self weaned not long after turning 3.

I absolutely support a widening of the understanding as to how parents might present, and the issuing of tailored advice for those who will benefit from it (I’m thinking of all those niche situation pamphlets that Laleche League publish) and peer to peer trans parent support wherever possible...

But the one of the reasons those specially tailored multiple LLL pamphlets are seperate (instead of being one big booklet) is partly so as not to overload already stressed new mums with masses of irrelevant information to sift through in order to find the bit that they need to get through another hour, day or week.

Stuff like the graphic in the OP would’ve just been a jumble of competing ideas, entirely unhelpful when sleep deprived and recovering from pregnancy and birth, desperate for support.

And yes, as pointed out above - where ARE all the babies?

It’s like cervix-havers all over again, but worse.

ChickenMe · 27/06/2018 09:49

But these are actual women being all earnest about it all

I don't see any men coming on there to insist that they A MAN can lactate

Yes I know it's a BF page so not many men will follow but that hasn't held men back from colonising other female spaces!

Alexa488 · 27/06/2018 09:49

And there will be those sex robots soon more flawless and obedient than any real woman. The world seems to be preparing to actually get rid of us completely.

Procrastinator1 · 27/06/2018 09:51

The organisation that produced this seems to be a Canadian doula service. Let's hope this all stays a bit niche.

ChickenMe · 27/06/2018 09:53

Just so relieved that many of the comments are like wtf