breastfeeding- still a punk act

This week I visited a sweet couple from church who just had a baby. The new mom was having trouble with her latch (no, you non-lactaters out there, that ain't a euphemism) and so when she started trying to nurse, I gave her a few pointers.

Who would have thought I was engaging in some porny act?!

According to the fabulous finslippy (aka Alice and her new blog Wonderland), YouTube does! Apparently YouTube hosts videos of people doing unspeakable acts with dolphins (sorry, B). But videos of mamas nursing are unacceptable! (I looked for "breastfeeding" on YouTube myself. There are some really lovely videos of babies nursing, thank goodness. Not enough useful information attached to those, unfortunately. But at least there are some examples for those of us who never saw it growing up and had to "fake it till we make it.")

Alice's post talks passionately and intelligently about how American culture cannot seem to reconcile the beauty and utility of women's bodies. Though there are some bf-ing vids, they're followed by completely trashy comments. It's totally wrong that women should feel ashamed of the enormous power we have to nourish others.

For God's sake, I often think of James and Kati Kim, the young couple with two daughters who got lost in the snowy woods, and how she kept her kids alive by nursing them. She kept them alive by feeding them with her own body. It's a fucking MIRACLE, what we can do! It is a miracle.

I think what people have a problem with is that babies are attached to something that people feel are solely a sex tool. Oops- but breasts are actually useful. Babies and breasts can't go together-- that's against the LAW, right? Like child porn?

We are a backwards society, sometimes. It's more than a shame.