I don’t want to seem like a narcissist or anything but it seems I’ve caused a bit of a stir in the blogosphere. OK, a small section of the blogosphere. One post of one blog to be exact. Still, a stir’s a stir. It appears that this fellow mommy blogger read an essay of mine, “No Milk Left Behind,” which is in the current issue of Parents magazine. If I were you, I’d read it, but of course, I’m biased. The essay is about how I hatched – and fulfilled – a crazy plan to not only pump my breasts throughout a romantic weekend getaway to Mexico – but to bring all the milk back stateside without spoiling.
So Sarah, the blogger behind harrytimes.blogspot.com, read the piece (Thanks Sarah) and liked it (Thanks again) but took issue with an aside comment I made, “Now I'm not a lactivist or anything (my daughter is well acquainted with the taste of formula), but . .” And in her post, she details exactly what about that comment distressed her. You can read the post and comments right here.
Sarah brings up a lot of really interesting points (a PhD will do that for you) as do the people who commented on the post. Her main message is that by attaching myself to my breast pump every three hours while vacationing in Mexico, I am, like it or not, a lactivist, and by shying away from that label, I’m undercutting my own work and the work of other women who advocate breastfeeding.
The truth is, (and one commenter – a bottle feeder – guessed this), I was using the aside only to distance myself from the obnoxious sancti-mommies that hate on formula-feeders. I can’t stand that crap. Do what’s best for you and your family, is what I always say. It’s a national magazine, and many different kinds of moms read it, and I didn’t want formula-feeding moms to feel like I was judging them.
But that said, Sarah’s right, really. I guess I am a lactivist just by busting out the boob in public and making people wait for twenty minutes for the airplane bathroom because I’m expressing breastmilk. I just don’t love labels and try to stay away from them (unless it will get me a book/ movie deal and in that case, label away!)
The "No Milk Left Behind" essay isn’t online yet but if you’ve got the October issue of Parents, go ahead, take a read and tell me what you think. Am I a lactivist? Or just a narcissist?
Posts
