The recent publication of an article entitled “The Case Against Breastfeeding” has the breastfeeding advocates in a tizzy.
I even added my own thoughts on my blog, specifically mentioning the author’s use of the word “Furious” to describe how she felt when breastfeeding.
The author has several claims. Among them:
- Breastfeeding isn’t as great as the popular media would have you believe. Many of the “benefits” are overstated.
- Breastfeeding makes “meaningful work” impossible since it takes so much time. Pumping and working aren’t doable for most.
- Breastfeeding is anti feminist.
- Breastfeeding gets in the way of co-parenting.
- Breastfeeding is bad for marriage relationships.
If you’ve read the article, what are your thoughts?
Is it one mom’s attempt to explain away her guilt by playing sour grapes? (Well I don’t want to breastfeed so to avoid guilt I’ll pretend it doesn’t matter.)Â Is it backlash against lactivism? Are there any valid points to her arguments?
Let’s hear it.
“Yet the actual health benefits of breast-feeding are surprisingly thin…”
I almost stopped reading there because yeah, it felt like she wanted to justify her own feelings, rather than look at facts.
The only other thing that caught my interest was the comment from Ashlee Simpson’s husband that the milk was “soury”. Forget that the comment is irrelevant to the writer’s discussion, but since when is breast milk sour? It’s like a sweet soy milk. LOL!
I have no problem with a mother deciding what’s right for her baby, but yes, I agree she seemed she wanted to justify her opinions and it was her long, drawn out diatribe that gave us nothing but THIN arguments.