So Flippin' Tired

[JessBB]

So, I have been called a breastfeeding Nazi again. This offends me in almost every way possible. Sometimes I feel like saying to all those people who are against bf. Why is it ok to try to win over moms to FF w/ anecdotal advice (my baby sleeps longer, I turned out fine, breast / formula is pretty much the same, my idiotic ped told me xyz) but if anyone provides SCIENTIFIC FACTS supporting bf, they are being judgmental at best and facists at worst??? I almost feel like saying forget it, if moms are unwilling to bf that's not my problem. Anyone else out there??

[nummies]

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago because I advised the mama to cut out formula supplements so that her milk supply could catch up. (She was supplementing from day one for no reason.) And the nazi word was used. It was awful. So I do feel your pain.

[smeisnotapirate]

I know how much that sucks. I'm 23, so most of my friends haven't even considered having kids yet, and they refer to me as "the hippy bf nazi" all the time. As much as it sucks, just make sure you get the word out there and try to take it as a compliment. At least they know that ignorance doesn't fly around you, right?

[mama24-7]

The next time someone refers to me or any lactivist w/ the term nazi or otherwise, I plan to inform them that they should be calling the formula co.s nazis since they are the ones killing 1.5 million babies a year worldwide, including 1 out of every 250 not BF'd in the US. That oughta stop them in their tracks.

Sus

[guestmama9904]

i think comparing anything or anyone to a "Nazi" is damaging to the memory of the people who died and suffered at the hands of actual nazi's in ww2. as a Jew, and as the granddaughter of concentration camp survivors i take serious offense when people use the word nazi as if it means simply someone with strongly held or offensive beliefs. nazis were a political party that murdered and tortured millions of people. folks who speak out against the formula feeding industrial machiene that our culture loves so much are not nazis.

[Arwyn]

Originally Posted by arismama!

i think comparing anything or anyone to a "Nazi" is damaging to the memory of the people who died and suffered at the hands of actual nazi's in ww2. as a Jew, and as the granddaughter of concentration camp survivors i take serious offense when people use the word nazi as if it means simply someone with strongly held or offensive beliefs. nazis were a political party that murdered and tortured millions of people. folks who speak out against the formula feeding industrial machiene that our culture loves so much are not nazis.

That's exactly why we don't allow its use here at MDC.

[TattoMomK]

Originally Posted by nummies

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago because I advised the mama to cut out formula supplements so that her milk supply could catch up. (She was supplementing from day one for no reason.) And the nazi word was used. It was awful. So I do feel your pain.

Me too, I posted about it here. It occurred on a message board at another site. Although I wasn't called a "nazi" anything I said or offered was immediately undermined by saying "don't feel bad about supplementing -- you do what's best for YOUR BABY..." Best for the baby? BEST FOR THE BABY?? I have an idea what's best for the baby: STOP SUPPLEMENTING!!!
:

I even offered the WHO breast milk growth chart. The initial momma was being held in the weighing-in pattern typical pedi stuff with first time moms. Meanwhile many other moms simply gave up on BF'ing. It was heartbreaking to watch. I tried to be the resident-lactivist, but since pointing out breast was best, I became the resident bad guy making people "feel bad" for their feeding choices. Oh well...

[sapphire_chan]

I think the explanation is all too clear.

They know $#&*^%@ well that they're full of %*#%&*.


The only response to inappropriate uses of the term Nazi is just what Arismama said "Your use of the term Nazi in this situation is an insult to everyone who suffered or had a family member suffer in the concentration camps. I believe that you are smart enough to know that sharing the scientific facts about breastfeeding is not the same as killing millions of innocent people."

The great thing is, what are they going to say? "I'm a holocaust denier"? Then they look stupid. "Actually I do think what you're doing is the same as killing millions of innocent people"? Again, they look stupid.

And reply that, or something similar, every.single.time someone uses the term in anything but a historical discussion.

[jeanine123]

I've posted this in the past but feel it's time to pull it out again. This was my response to the use of that term in the past:

I'm not sure if the person who wrote the response is aware of the fact that the Nazi's murdered 6 million+ Jews not to mention millions of Gypsys and others during World War Two. Do you really think that it is appropriate to lump a group of people such as breastfeeding supporters in with mass murderers on a scale that few have seen before or since? Casually tossing around the word Nazi to describe someone who may have strong beliefs about a particular cause only serves to diminish the true horror that was the Holocaust. I am not Jewish and I don't personally know anyone who was in concentration camps during that time but I can only imagine what a slap in the face it must be for them to hear Nazi so casually used, especially when discussing something that is not related to the term in any way shape or form. Not to mention the people who are trying to spread accurate breastfeeding information and support. Do you really think they enjoy being compared to mass murderers?

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by arismama!

i think comparing anything or anyone to a "Nazi" is damaging to the memory of the people who died and suffered at the hands of actual nazi's in ww2. as a Jew, and as the granddaughter of concentration camp survivors i take serious offense when people use the word nazi as if it means simply someone with strongly held or offensive beliefs. nazis were a political party that murdered and tortured millions of people. folks who speak out against the formula feeding industrial machiene that our culture loves so much are not nazis.

Not to minimize the torture that those in the concentration camps lived through, but my grandmother lived in Germany during the war, and lived in constant terror of Nazi soldiers coming to take her and her brothers and sisters to be "trained" as soldiers. And after she immigrated to the U.S. in the 50's, she dealt with people constantly asking her if she had been a Nazi. She still cries over that sometimes.

I tell people that when they use that word lightly, and I've been making an effort in the last few years to stop making Nazi "jokes". It's hard when you grow up in a generation where an entire 30 minute program was making light of the word (Seinfeld's Soup-Nazi).

[guestmama9904]

Originally Posted by llamalluv

Not to minimize the torture that those in the concentration camps lived through, but my grandmother lived in Germany during the war, and lived in constant terror of Nazi soldiers coming to take her and her brothers and sisters to be "trained" as soldiers. And after she immigrated to the U.S. in the 50's, she dealt with people constantly asking her if she had been a Nazi. She still cries over that sometimes.

I tell people that when they use that word lightly, and I've been making an effort in the last few years to stop making Nazi "jokes". It's hard when you grow up in a generation where an entire 30 minute program was making light of the word (Seinfeld's Soup-Nazi).

the nazis were horrible to jews and non-jews alike. they had so much propaganda to "encourage" others to join with them that i dont doubt your relatives were scared of them regardless of the fact that they were not targets for being deported to concentration camps.

in re; to seinfeld i have mixed feelings about this. seinfeld is a Jewish man, as are many of the cast members on his show. he wrote the show as well. people can disagree with this but I believe it is a bit different when a person of a certain ethnic group makes a joke (like calling the deli lady a "soup nazi") in regrades to their own ethnic group of which they are apart. it is one way that people deal with racism and xenophobia and prejudice by laughing at it and making jokes around the subject.

what i was saying in re; to calling people breastfeeding nazis had nothing to do with whether or not non-jews suffered from the nazi regime in ww2 and that they may still suffer today from its consequences. my point wasnt who suffered the most in ww2, though i will say i believe people who were killed and in concentration camps such as my grandparents were undoubtedly suffered on a whole different level than those who were not jewish and not nazis. my point was that if someone called me that word in re; to being a lactivist i would be seriously upset by the use of that term.

[St. Margaret]

Originally Posted by mama24-7

The next time someone refers to me or any lactivist w/ the term nazi or otherwise, I plan to inform them that they should be calling the formula co.s nazis since they are the ones killing 1.5 million babies a year worldwide, including 1 out of every 250 not BF'd in the US. That oughta stop them in their tracks.

Sus

awesome response; source? (so I can throw this around and back it up )

Then I'll go on to make the point about we shouldn't compare at all out of respect to allthe real victims of nazis.

NAk can you tell?

[mama24-7]

Originally Posted by St. Margaret

awesome response; source? (so I can throw this around and back it up )

Then I'll go on to make the point about we shouldn't compare at all out of respect to allthe real victims of nazis.

NAk can you tell?

Milk, Money & Madness said that 4 out of every 1000 babies in the US who is not breastfed will die. I widdled it down to 1 out of every 250.

The 1.5 million comes from WHO.

And, I think there was an article maybe in 2006 about how in the US babies who aren't bf'd are some high percentage (50%?) more likely to do, but I can't remember that for sure.

Sus

[sapphire_chan]

Since fascism is a political ideology and not a specific group, I think that "formula fascist" (while a term totally unsuited to MDC) would be a terrific thing to call anyone who is overly persistent in recommending unnecessary supplementation--such as a pediatrician right before leaving their practice.