https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sun, 26 Apr 2026 10:03:49 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1503074 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 18:36:23 +0000 Aziraphale 1503074@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>KL, what a very strange story. I have met a few breastfeeding fanatics in my time, and although they tend to be obsessed with the topic, I've never seen one go mental in public for no apparent reason! Maybe somebody challenged her, and she just snapped. Who knows.&nbsp;</p> <p>Mander, that's also a fascinating anecdote. I'm trying imagine a woman in a burqua with an exposed breast -- it would be a bit like a draped patient on an operating table, where the only the important bit is exposed. Would it highlight the breast, or would it make the breast seem weirdly disembodied and therefore less sexual? :-)</p> <p>SarahtheWhite, unfortunately that link doesn't work in Canada! Bummer.</p> <p>JackieC, Anne, Archer -- thanks for the tips! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1502852 Mon, 08 Jun 2015 08:32:01 +0000 anne 1502852@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>There's an episode in two and a half men where one of the blokes was dating a breastfeeding mother. I'm rather ashamed I ever watched that show - it was dealt with in predictably titillating fashion. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1502684 Sun, 07 Jun 2015 20:59:23 +0000 Mander 1502684@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>What a strange thing to do, KL! Was she actually challenged by someone, or just making a point?</p> <p>Anyway I don't have a reference for you but on the subject of strangely prudish views about naked breasts, I have a brief anecdote. Muslim women, especially those who wear veils, are probably the most "covered up" women you can imagine. Yet I was once in a shoe shop when a woman in a burqa sat down on a bench with her baby and started to breastfeed. With a visible, naked breast. I thought it was a startling affront to stereotypes about both women in veils and the sexual nature of breasts. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1502284 Sat, 06 Jun 2015 17:09:10 +0000 Kristin L 1502284@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have a feeling that this won't help your paper, but I had an odd experience at TJ Maxx a few months ago. Usually when I shop by myself, which I was that day, I tune out most of what's going around me. There was a lady who came walking up near me and started shouting at the top of her lungs that she had a right to breastfeed and that she was doing it walking around the store. She then shouted that she would call the cops on anyone that so much as looked at her wrong. I know it's not the norm, but if she had walked by shopping, I probably would not have even looked up, but with her shouting, everyone around me, including me, looked up. I don't know if she called the cops on anyone that day, but all I could think was "Well, now I feel awkward". </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1501733 Fri, 05 Jun 2015 13:04:16 +0000 Archer 1501733@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>it's not North American but it is a great cross reference - Little Britain's Bitty skits - where the grown man -boy demand feeds from his middle aged mother, and even the grandmother if he is particularly unsettled.&nbsp;<br />It's a squirmy text - loaded. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1501060 Thu, 04 Jun 2015 04:36:09 +0000 SarahTheWhite 1501060@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Not that this will help with your paper, but it does address breastfeeding/bottle feeding, and even more so what a number of you mentioned about the attitudes of moms towards each other. I thought it was really sweet - and funny. The dads... "It's not all about the breasts," "Ummm, yeah, actually it is!"</p> <p><a href="http://youtu.be/Me9yrREXOj4" rel="nofollow">http://youtu.be/Me9yrREXOj4</a> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1500656 Wed, 03 Jun 2015 13:48:59 +0000 jackiec 1500656@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Late to the party but the movie Grownups has a 4 year old (sorry 48 month old) breastfeeding, and they play that up.</p> <p>(My kids have seen that movie too many times to count).....thus, so have I..... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1498249 Fri, 29 May 2015 17:23:16 +0000 Jules 1498249@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>No I didn't think you were implying anything, I was just sort of stating it for the record - because before I had bf difficulties, I was a bit judgy. Then I had my hungry baby looking at me and things changed. Although we eventually figured it out, I understood that other women might have a harder experience or make a different choice, and choosing to <i>feed your baby</i> can't be wrong no matter how you do it.</p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1498064 Fri, 29 May 2015 06:27:32 +0000 Aziraphale 1498064@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have seen Mad Max, and the part with the "human cows" made me angry, I think because it brought up bad memories of how I felt when hooked up to that blasted breast pump with my first baby: used and abused. I had this idea that it was important for my husband to feed the baby too, so every night I would dutifully pump so he could feed her from a bottle. I still think it's important that he got to do that, but the breast pump made me feel like a farm animal (actually, the act of nursing also made me feel like a farm animal, but at least it felt natural), and caused my body to ramp up its production. I could have fed a whole <i>herd</i> of babies! There was just SO MUCH MILK, leaking and spraying and making me sweat like a racehorse all the time. (And my poor daughter. It must have been like drinking from a fire hydrant).</p> <p>Mochi, that magazine cover is the one I'm writing my paper on! I have to do a reading of it, citing at least two of the texts we've studied this semester (Marx, Althusser, Lacan, Barthes, Said etc). I chose it because it shows a kind of mixed message: on the &nbsp;one hand, I think it's kind of designed to make the target audience (i.e. mothers) feel insecure (ack! Am I doing enough? I'm not doing <i>that</i>); and on the other hand, the image is clearly meant to inspire discomfort in general with the practice of extended breastfeeding. I think it encourages us to think that breastfeeding a toddler is freaky (which many North Americans probably think anyway, because we never see it), and it blurs the line between breastfeeding and sexuality, what with the way the mom is posed, and her modelesque looks and everything. &nbsp;</p> <p>I'm not a breastfeeding activist (I actually think people go way overboard on pushing breastfeeding) but I kind of thought that ad was a cheap trick to sell magazines, and unfair to women who actually do breastfeed toddlers. I remember seeing it at the time, in 2012, and thinking, good grief.</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1498039 Fri, 29 May 2015 04:06:27 +0000 catgirl 1498039@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>If youve seen the new Mad Max, breast milk plays a surprising role. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1497807 Thu, 28 May 2015 19:41:14 +0000 L'Abeille 1497807@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Here's a pop culture one for you. A recent (like, last month) TV episode of the Starz series Outlander had a scene where a woman 3 days postpartum had to go on a road trip (on horseback) leaving her baby behind, and stopped to express milk to relieve her engorged breasts, which was portrayed graphically and very well. The backlash at this being shown on TV (in a show with graphic sex and violence, mind you) was only matched by the backlash in Canada, where that scene was NOT shown, apparently due to some sort of editing mistake, and the network involved had to apologize and promise to re-air the uncut version... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1497628 Thu, 28 May 2015 13:05:25 +0000 catherine 1497628@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>A video for your amusement.<br /> <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rBG1Dl9hEY4" rel="nofollow">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rBG1Dl9hEY4</a> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture/page/2#post-1497601 Thu, 28 May 2015 11:45:59 +0000 Mochi 1497601@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hey, Aziraphale. Posting and running, so apologies if someone already mentioned this one from a few years back:&nbsp;</p> <p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/600979/thumbs/o-TIME-MAGAZINE-570.jpg?4">http://i.huffpost.com/gen/6009.....-570.jpg?4</a> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497568 Thu, 28 May 2015 09:24:37 +0000 Scarlet 1497568@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I caught a bit on some movie on T.V. I don't know what it was called but it was with Ben Stiller and Robert DeNiro. They were in a R.V. and the Ben character complained the milk was sour, which turned out to be breast milk for the baby. The DeNiro character had a prosthetic boob with which to feed said baby, I suppose? I didn't watch further. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497546 Thu, 28 May 2015 05:11:13 +0000 Aziraphale 1497546@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Nope, still doesn't work. It says 'page not found'. Maybe it won't work from Canada? &nbsp;thanks anyway! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497539 Thu, 28 May 2015 04:07:45 +0000 annagybe 1497539@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/16/woolly-boobs-laughable-sobering-surprisingly-useful"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/16/woolly-boobs-laughable-sobering-surprisingly-use" rel="nofollow">http://www.theguardian.com/lif.....singly-use</a>...</a> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497529 Thu, 28 May 2015 03:43:59 +0000 Aziraphale 1497529@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Jules and Karymk -- just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting that either of <i>you</i> would pressure someone to breastfeed! I was making a comment about some of the comments and opinion articles I'd read while doing research. :-)</p> <p>Anna, that link unfortunately doesn't work. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497513 Thu, 28 May 2015 03:02:52 +0000 annagybe 1497513@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Having personal experience, but one person from my high school is very pro-breast feeding (La Leche?) she also knits...this was a similar project for her local group.<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/16/woolly-boobs-laughable-sobering-surprisingly-useful"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/16/woolly-boobs-laughable-sobering-surprisingly-use" rel="nofollow">http://www.theguardian.com/lif.....singly-use</a>...</a> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497450 Thu, 28 May 2015 00:54:01 +0000 karymk 1497450@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh man, I would never pressure someone to breastfeed. &nbsp;I bottle fed the first child and he turned out to be the healthiest of all! &nbsp;The two that were breastfed had earaches, tubes, and horrible asthma!!! &nbsp;Go figure!!! &nbsp;The Similac kid had nary a cold his whole childhood....</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497394 Wed, 27 May 2015 21:07:28 +0000 rachylou 1497394@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Does anyone remember the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_boycott" rel="nofollow">formula scandal</a> of the 70s? The Wikipedia entry has a few mentions of the issue in the media (the scandal continues). </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497350 Wed, 27 May 2015 18:55:28 +0000 Jules 1497350@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Aziraphale, agreed. If you watch the whole movie that character is pretty crazy. I personally did EBF (3 years each kid) and I still enjoyed the overall sendup of extreme AP-type parenting. But I tend not to buy in wholly to anything and just pick and choose the stuff I like.<br />Also, having had difficulty establishing breastfeeding with my first (resorting to formula top-up and various measures as prescribed by a LC), I will never again judge how anyone chooses to feed their hungry baby. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497314 Wed, 27 May 2015 17:31:50 +0000 Aziraphale 1497314@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Sorry, Jules, I missed the Maggie Gyllenhaal link you provided upthread. It's an excellent example of how, in pop culture, extended-breastfeeding mothers are portrayed as overzealous and a little nuts. :-)</p> <p>abc, I looked up the military women who breastfed in uniform for a photo shoot and yes, there were some reactions of dismay. Again, I think it's a result of the Puritan heritage -- American culture has a weird relationship with nudity, and what can only be described as confusion about sexuality and sexual imagery.&nbsp;</p> <p>Laura, Daria -- yep, that's pretty bad. So much for "family support", eh?</p> <p>RoseandJoan, thanks for the suggestion. :-)</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497300 Wed, 27 May 2015 17:10:00 +0000 RoseandJoan 1497300@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Sorry if this has been mentioned in one of&nbsp;the links already.</p> <p>Game of Thrones has an episode were Lady Lysa Arryn&nbsp;breastfeeds her&nbsp;tween&nbsp;son Robin Arryn. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497288 Wed, 27 May 2015 16:36:27 +0000 Daria 1497288@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Maternity leave laws vary, but in NJ it's 6 weeks of STD postpartum (partially paid by the state), and 12 weeks of FMLA (unpaid). The catch is that only large-ish companies (50+ employees I believe) are obliged to offer FMLA protection, and many companies run STD and FMLA concurrently, so 12 weeks postpartum is the maximum you can possibly get. How is that breastfeeding friendly? &nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497285 Wed, 27 May 2015 16:31:41 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 1497285@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Strictly speaking, there's no nationwide mandated maternity leave in the US. If you work for a company that's covered under the FMLA (family &amp; medical leave act, passed only a few years ago) *and* you've worked there long enough (at least a year full-time or equivalent part-time hours, I believe), you must be offered up to 12 weeks of <b>unpaid</b> leave - a quick web search suggests that that covers about 60% of American employees (not workers in total, I presume, since so many people are contractors or small businesspeople now - they're SOL). Some states have passed paid leave requirements, like California, but again, they only apply to certain employers and employment situations. And of course, some corporations offer paid leave and flex work situations above the governmental requirements and have done so for decades.</p> <p>Still, it's pretty horrible, in my opinion, almost as bad as our completely morally indefensible medical / insurance situation. {steps off soapbox}</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497281 Wed, 27 May 2015 16:25:59 +0000 abc 1497281@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>What about that scuffle caused by the US military women and their breastfeeding pic? &nbsp;I don't recall a lot of it - admittedly I tuned it out. &nbsp;Maybe they were in uniform or something? &nbsp;Honestly, to each her own. &nbsp;A very personal decision. &nbsp;NO reason on EARTH why one woman should shame another for her decision.</p> <p>And HALLELUJAH to all who agree that the US claims to be so bf-friendly yet to do it in public yields reactions like it's offensive. &nbsp;SIGH. &nbsp;FWIW I live in Mexico and see women here bf anywhere and everywhere without anyone batting an eye. &nbsp;Refreshing for sure. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497251 Wed, 27 May 2015 15:54:51 +0000 Aziraphale 1497251@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Darla, you're correct that you can't really put all of North America in one bucket. I find cultural attitudes are similar in the U.S. and Canada, but from a practical standpoint, we have it better north of the border. It's a one-year maternity leave in B.C. What do they get, six week in the U.S.? Something like that.&nbsp;</p> <p>Columbine, thanks for the suggestion. That's a good idea. I think I saw something a while back about Beyoncé breastfeeding, and she's a pop culture icon for sure. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497216 Wed, 27 May 2015 14:46:41 +0000 columbine(erin) 1497216@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Babycenter.com has a lot of articles abouts celebrities who breastfeed. Sorry I can't link, I'm on my phone. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497133 Wed, 27 May 2015 12:30:50 +0000 Daria 1497133@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have nothing to add in terms of pop culture, but I would never call a country without any sensible maternity leave program "pro-breastfeeding".<br />Also not sure if it makes sense to put entire North America in one bucket as far as breastfeeding is concerned. My children were born in Quebec in NJ, and the amount of support available was quite different (Quebec is very pro-breastfeeding). </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/asking-for-help-breastfeeding-references-in-pop-culture#post-1497076 Wed, 27 May 2015 05:05:28 +0000 Aziraphale 1497076@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Karymk -- well done! I always feel happy to see a woman breastfeeding without those silly tents. I never used one. I admit I avoided nursing in public if possible, but if I did, I just lifted my shirt (and tried not to expose too much). Perhaps I'd have been a little less bashful if I'd spent time somewhere that you actually saw public breastfeeding (like Norway!).&nbsp;</p> <p>The thing about breastfeeding is that it's a deeply personal choice -- just like all the other choices we make as parents. We should be perfectly free to breastfeed whenever and wherever. But we shouldn't pressure mothers too much, either. Early motherhood is hard enough to navigate without a guilt pile-on.&nbsp; </p>