Yet another comparison of lactation to the Reich

by Lauredhel on March 25, 2009

pumpbustier A number of people have contacted me wondering whether I’m going to say something about the Atlantic Monthly article.

I think it’s had way too much oxygen already, and I really don’t want to devote hours or days of my life comprehensively picking it to pieces, much as I might like to tackle things like the dichotomy the author constructs between breastfeeding and “working in any meaningful way”.

So I’ll just say this: It’s auto-Godwinned.

When that didn’t work out, they panicked about their babies’ missing out on the milky elixir. One of them sat on my couch the other day hooked up to tubes and suctions and a giant deconstructed bra, looking like some fetish ad, or a footnote from the Josef Mengele years. Looking as far as humanly possible from Eve in her natural, feminine state.

And that’s enough said, for me.

If you’d like to read responses from others, check out Blacktating, Momlogic, California NOW, unnecesarean, The Feminist Breeder, blue milk, PhD In Parenting, and this roundup.

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Tagged as: atlantic monthly, bottle feeding, breast pump, breastfeeding, breastfeeding nazis, expressing, feminism, formula, Godwin, lactation, mothering, natural, nazi, pump, reich, workplace

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This article was written by lauredhel

Lauredhel is a forty-something woman with a disability. She lives in her Western Australian family home where books, Lego, and soapmaking gear constantly compete for space. She blogs about feminism, reproductive justice, freedom from violence, the use and misuse of language, medical science, being disabled, her vegetable garden, and whatever else pops into her head. Lauredhel also blogs at FWD/Forward (feminists with disabilities), scribbles at her personal dreamwidth journal Selective and Arbitrary, and co-moderates Hollaback Australia. She joined Hoyden About Town in 2007.

lauredhel has written 1286 posts for Hoyden About Town. If you liked this post, you might like to subscribe to the feed via RSS or EMAIL to get instantly updated for more posts like this.

{ 7 comments }

1 Mindy March 25, 2009 at 3:51 pm: Ok, so she’s decided that breastfeeding isn’t the be all and end all of having a child. No problem. She obviously has some issues about feeding in public, no problem there, it’s a personal thing. But why does she have to act like all women who choose to breastfeed have been taken in and brainwashed by some huge industrial breastfeeding complex?
2 Jill-- Unnecesarean March 25, 2009 at 4:56 pm: Linked by lauredhel!! I feel so honored.

Jill– Unnecesarean’s last blog post..Eating During Childbirth? Yes you CAN, Says BMJ!
3 Ruth Moss March 25, 2009 at 5:16 pm: You couldn’t resist… I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist entirely! I wasn’t!

Ruth Moss’s last blog post..Mothering Sunday
4 Lauredhel March 25, 2009 at 5:22 pm: I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist entirely!

I could and would have.. but people kept contacting me asking me when I was going to comment!
5 Jill-- Unnecesarean March 25, 2009 at 5:24 pm: OK, I was so delighted earlier that my reaction to “auto-Godwinned” was terribly delayed. That had many levels in this case. Funny!

Jill– Unnecesarean’s last blog post..Eating During Childbirth? Yes you CAN, Says BMJ!
6 QoT March 25, 2009 at 8:57 pm: Eve in her natural, feminine state.

EVE IN HER NATURAL, FEMININE STATE.

Jesus Christ, I don’t think anything else needs to be said! Screw complex analyses of patriarchy and societal messages about women’s roles, we just need this quote in nine-inch letters on every blog.

EVE IN HER NATURAL FEMININE STATE.
7 weez March 26, 2009 at 6:56 am: Auto-Godwinning starts with the image of a baby all but sieg-heiling at the top of the article, n’est ce pas? :D