In response to the New York times article Breast-Feed or Else By Roni Rabin June 13, 2006, I post this from MomsRising.Org
"...Demand a ceasefire in the so-called “Mommy Wars.” Help send a strong message to the media that uses this headline grabbing fiction to divide women...
The Mommy Wars are a media concoction designed to sell magazines and to increase ratings. This distracts us from the real issues and unnecessarily divides mothers. Mothers in the paid labor force and mothers who are not have vastly more in common than what separates them. In fact, a majority of mothers who are out of the labor force ultimately go back to paid work.
Simplistic “us versus them” rhetoric does not reflect our experience and needs. This isn’t a playground and we don’t have to choose sides. The Mommy Wars promote ill will where we should be fostering connections. The truth is there are no sides.
Let the media show us programming that reflects our true needs. It’s time to focus on the real problems that average Americans face every day. A quarter of American families with children under six years old live in poverty. How about some in-depth feature coverage that explores solutions which benefit us all? Solutions such as quality universal pre-K and paid family leave for all workers who need time to care need more coverage. We spend more per person for health care than any other nation yet rank a low 37th for our mortality rate of children under five years old, and are the only Western nation without a national health program. These are just a few of the issues that impact all families and should be broadcast nationwide.
As a country we give lip service to family values, yet we fail to recognize the value of family care giving, and give only nominal social support.
It’s time to get the media’s attention and tell them they are missing the real story."
Enough of the cat fight - unite!
6 comments:
Wow. As I'm reading that article I'm just waiting for the declaration that breastfeeding gives infants the ability to cure cancer with a single glance. Or the statitic that formula-fed babies are more likely to end up on death row, as the absence of breastfeeding leads to lives of debauchery and crime.
I agree with you Jen, let's unite.
A problem with that is the fact that too many women believe that what is right for them, should be right for everyone.
When it comes to breastfeeding, I'm Pro-Choice.
We as women and mothers and parents have WAY bigger fish to fry.
I could give two shakes of a stick if my neighbor breast feeds but I do care if she's working two part time jobs equalling 72 hours a week with no insurance to make ends meet and her children never see her - that is tragedy and that is 'welfare to work' yeah for the Republicans on that one.
"Two shakes of a stick" origin?
Really I was going to say "two sh*ts" but I'm trying very hard to alter my speech patterns. (yes, even in writting)
I need to comment a WHOLE lot on this subject. Mind if I steal the topic? :)
By all means speak heavily on the topic - it needs to be examined
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