Agree. Ex-breastfeeding working mother here. Albeit in historic times (the kid just turned 23). The father was the main carer while I worked as a lecturer. And I would have been pretty annoyed if he had handed me our baby mid lecture. Bringing her after the lecture very much appreciated.
I guess Serene Williams will have to feed mid serve to prove she is fully committed to mothering.
That doesn’t mean that they don’t exist at all, just that you’ve never met them.
Having one child (whom I breastfed) that I’m raising as a single mom, I strive not to arbitrarily judge how others go about rearing their own kids unless the method is somehow detrimental to their safety and well being.
I’m 1000% pro-breastfeeding. My wife breastfed both of our children. I’ve read the research on how healthy it is. I think it’s completely ok to do it in public. I have friends who are lactation consultants. Breastfeeding is literally one of the most natural things in the world.
That said, it seems planned, which makes the whole thing feel cynical. If it was planned, it feels like branding. Now, we can debate whether that matters. Maybe that’s how we tell something is normalized in our society. Maybe it’s not until something is objectified, packaged, and sold that we can say it has finally made it. But it still rubs me the wrong way.
I feel the same way about how feminism has become a brand in our society. They’re using feminism to sell makeup. Using feminism to sell anti-aging cream. Using feminism to sell Twitter, for fuck’s sake. Like I said, maybe that’s not a bad thing, but something still feels wrong about it.
Fair enough, and I agree with that principle. But I have a lower threshold for calling out men who who are being asses. Though, again, I don’t think the father here was being an ass, because I think the plan was to hand over the baby at feeding time during the shoot.
And breastfeeding during a campaign ad while talking about environmental health issues, is what made the ad. It would have been dreadfully boring and unremarkable if it had just been her sitting in a chair talking about issues.
Come on folks. Of course it was planned. Nothing wrong with it, but don’t be a rube. The husband was right there and they had a second camera on him. If they felt the baby need to be fed right then and there and didn’t want it on film they could have cut filming and resumed afterwards.
I’m confused. Am I supposed to want to vote for you because of a normal ability? Congrats on breastfeeding … like billions of other women. Or is it because you are willing to filmed doing it? Should I hypothetically prefer you over, say, a woman who isn’t lactating?
Should we prefer Burger King if they show a woman munching a Whopper while breast feeding?
This isn’t a talent show. This is an election. But in that sense, I guess it’s just more of the “here’s my smiling family, so you should vote for me” BS.
Yes, breastfeeding is a totally normal, human activity. It’s also (in the US) a cultural taboo that’s looked down upon in public and in the workplace – which fact ultimately contributes to keeping mothers out of the workforce. By being brave enough to openly work to normalize this totally normal activity, the candidate is taking a stand for working mothers.
Normalizing breastfeeding – thumbs up. Great idea.
Claiming it was unplanned seems disingenuous. How many hours of footage did they take for the commercial? How many hours did somebody spend editing it? How many different versions of the commercial did they narrow it down to before settling on this one? How many people on staff reviewed the different versions before settling on this one? How much time did they spend debating or giving notes and requesting further revisions? Even if she was just rehearsing lines while breastfeeding and someone later suggested using it in the final cut, there was plenty of planning after that point.