Welcome to the July 2010 Carnival of Nursing in Public!
Today we have 17 amazing articles to share with you on the topics of N.I.P. and culture/feminism. Read below for more, and be sure to check back with us every day this week for more educational and inspirational posts on breastfeeding and nursing in public.
Does Breastfeeding Really Need to Be Normalized?
If the majority of society’s attitude toward breastfeeding is still one of discomfort, if most people still find the sight of a breastfeeding pair stare-worthy instead of commonplace, when we still have celebrities causing heated debates about whether it is appropriate to breastfeed in a restaurant, when we still have breastfeeding mothers being asked to nurse in the bathroom or their car or somewhere else but not around us, then we still have work to do to normalize breastfeeding.
Can we normalize breastfeeding simply by doing it in public?
Yes.
Our writers today give us more ideas of how to transform our culture into one that embraces breastfeeding dyads, regardless of where they are.
Be sure to check out our featured post today by Danelle from DrMomma.org called We Are All Lactivists.
N.I.P. & Culture
- What does it mean to normalize N.I.P. and breastfeeding? Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares her thoughts.
- Breastfeeding is not seen as normal yet, because it is not seen often enough! Erin at Growing with My Girlsencourages us all to make it more of a common sight.
- It is ironic that mothers who choose to do something that is the *standard* for feeding children, are also made to feel ashamed for it. Lisa C. at My World Edenwild is still working through her confusion and anger about people who harass breastfeeding mothers.
- Goofy Mama has been breastfeeding for 72 months (and counting!), but she didn’t know what the acronym N.I.P. meant until recently. Her feelings on the subject? We need to N.I.P. more often so that more people are comfortable with it. Amen.
- If you think breastfeeding should be done in private because it is intimate, you might want to think about all of the other intimate acts we see in public every day. Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children explains.
- Sheryl at Little Snowflakes ditched her Hooter Hider once she became more comfortable NIP. Now that she’s pregnant with her second child, she wants to NIP without a cover simply to give other breastfeeding moms more confidence.
- Robin at Birth Activist has been a breastfeeding mama and activist for years – she shares her own view on how NIP has changed.
- Not sure whether breastfeeding mamas really need to work to normalize nursing? Check out some of the tweets that the grumbles has read lately – this post at grumbles and grunts is illustrative of our continuing need to make NIP the standard.
- Hannah may not NIP in her small Texas town, but she is doing her own part to encourage breastfeeding mamas. A thought-provoking and inspirational guest post at DrMomma.org.
- Darcel at The Mahogany Way was proud when her daughter pretended to breastfeed her dolls. That’s simply making breastfeeding normal for the next generation!
- Melissa at The New Mommy Files writes: “Neither I, nor any nursing mother needs reminders from society on how it is acceptable to feed our children.” We agree.
- DaddyYo at The DaddyYoBlog offers a father’s perspective on how we can get past societal roadblocks to normalizing breastfeeding and NIP.
N.I.P. & Feminism
- Breastfeeding mothers are often told that we should be “discreet” when we are nursing in public. The problem with the word “discreet,” however, is that the definition is arbitrary. Summer from Finding Summer explains why your definition of the appropriate level of discretion may be entirely different from someone else’s.
- Oliva at GreenOliveLife had every known comeback ready if she was asked to cover up or leave while NIP, but she wasn’t prepared for the man who told her she was sexy while breastfeeding.
- The word “discreet” conjures images of salacious affairs and feminine hygiene products for Slee at Paisley & Pretties. She’ll be happy when we have banished it from our NIP vocabulary.
- The sight of a nipple shouldn’t send mothers screaming to cover their children’s eyes. The Renaissance Woman urges breastfeeding mamas to work together so that the next generation will recognize our breasts more for their nurturing than their sexual value.
- Rebekah at Thoughtful Momma explains why breastfeeding is, indeed, sexual; but that doesn’t mean that NIP is shameful. On the contrary – it is essential.
