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Originally Posted by songbh  Many women defend the practice of formula marketing through hospitals, because they accept the industry's argument that they are intelligent individuals capable of making their own choices. They see lactivist efforts to protect breastfeeding from profit-driven corporate sabotage as patronizing condescension. Essentially, they reject all evidence that advertising WORKS, because to acknowledge otherwise undermines their self-image as free agents in a fair world.
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Hm. You know, I've gotta wonder how many of these women who are rallying to keep hospital formula samples are actual women and how many of them are IFC agents... Viral marketing isn't a new thing. I mean, we have those ridiculous momsfeedingfreedom.com and babyfeedingchoice.org sites... At first blush, they seem so legitimate and grassroots, but they've been carefully designed to look that way, to make it seem like the indignant everywoman is behind them... I find it really a stretch to believe that so many women would have the time in their day to get behind this ludicrous "cause." Women, moms in particular, don't have that kind of free time. Sure, most moms probably like having the free samples, and most probably think they're harmless (which they're obviously not), but it doesn't mean most moms are going to hold up signs and protest and write letters over it. It's just another myth, and that myth is being sold to everyone who will listen. Very effectively sold, but I'm not buying it. I truly don't think moms care that much about keeping samples of formula in hospitals that aren't going to last longer than a week, especially if moms who would have trouble affording formula would get theirs for free from WIC anyway, kwim? It's all just more marketing lies. Any woman who would, in passing, agree with this myth, is just that: "in passing." After the pregnancy and postpartum period, most women wouldn't
care enough to rally behind such a silly cause. Life is way too hectic for that. It's all just more smoke and mirrors to make people believe moms care more about this than they actually do...
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| I think this mindset is behind the very common scenario of a mother who tried to breastfeed, found it difficult, and weaned to formula ... but then blames the culture of breastfeeding advocacy for her ordeal, feels gratitude and other kinds of positive emotional investment in the systems that put formula within easy reach, and takes a certain degree of defensive pride in what she sees as her strength of character and sharp mind for being smart enough to make the right choice (formula-feeding) for her baby. She -- despite following what is very much the norm for our society -- sees herself as a sort of hero-consumer, for refusing to play the part of the needy victim ... which I think is precisely how the corporations want us to see ourselves, with their help of course. |
Song, you are pretty brilliant. I need to get that out of the way before I continue writing...
Yeah, I can definitely see this being the case for many women... Interesting dilemma... But I think we can overcome it. Not sure how yet... Thinking... I think together we can all come up with something.
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| I have a whole set of intellectual, analytical tools that help me understand why individuals can be so invested in systems that in many important ways work against their own best interests. What I don't have is a way to communicate this effectively in layperson's terms. But I think this is an important problem for lactivists to tackle, because ultimately, we're not going to change institutions or society-wide policies doing it one mother at a time. We have to build political will to change the way our society views breastfeeding and the way it treats mommas and nurslings. |
I think you should blog. That's a way to get your ideas out in a way most people will understand, and you have a lot of really important things to say. So get a move on, sister...
I think that both ways of changing society are important: every person we meet is an opportunity to educate. We need to be as plain and non-judgmental as possible if we're to actually get the lactivism message across. The end-goal is to have society accept breastfeeding and lactation as normal, to accept lactation for 2+ years as ordinary... It's baby-steps until then, and it really does start one person at a time. It's really important not to condescend to or judge any kind of formula-feeding... But it's equally important to provide as much breastfeeding education and support as possible, in the gentlest way we can, to pretty much everyone we meet.
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