The babies though. In this narcissism the babies may get nutrients, but not that symbiotic relationship. The baby's sucking releases hormone producing milk. It can't be recreated. Poor babies becoming a commodity to satisfy a deep deep need. Poor babies seeking that mother bond which may not be possible.
I was a LLL Leader for 25 years; we used to KNOW men had BF fetishes because some of them called the warm-line pretending to seek help "for their wife."
It saddens me so much a world where people plan to have and raise mother-less babies. That tells us something about a misogynist society, doesn't it? Not only is the work that mothers do not valued, not protected, and not supported through financial resources, but now we think that not even babies need a Mother. Lucy, thank you for your voice!
"LLL empowered women to optimize their health and well-being through breastfeeding. It honored mothers, not in the condescending manner of popular culture, but through acknowledging and celebrating the tremendous power mothers have in promoting healthier and more productive societies starting with their own families. It respected the agency of babies as individual human beings with their own rights and autonomy as partners in the breastfeeding relationship. It honored the mother/baby dyad as the foundation of society."
Not sure I have the heart to read this right now. I feel a crushing darkness coming on. Is this about milk donation Fury Road style, synthetic “human milk” production or men claiming to be Mothers...? 😱😱😱
Thanks so much for this Lucy. So much of the messaging is insidious and slowly accepted. I’ve been following a FB group for years called milk4tiny humans but I’ve realised it’s now called human milk and I just didn’t cotton on to this change in language.
The babies though. In this narcissism the babies may get nutrients, but not that symbiotic relationship. The baby's sucking releases hormone producing milk. It can't be recreated. Poor babies becoming a commodity to satisfy a deep deep need. Poor babies seeking that mother bond which may not be possible.
Thanks for a great post. I am dying to learn where they do get those mammary epithelial cells.
I was a LLL Leader for 25 years; we used to KNOW men had BF fetishes because some of them called the warm-line pretending to seek help "for their wife."
It saddens me so much a world where people plan to have and raise mother-less babies. That tells us something about a misogynist society, doesn't it? Not only is the work that mothers do not valued, not protected, and not supported through financial resources, but now we think that not even babies need a Mother. Lucy, thank you for your voice!
This:
"LLL empowered women to optimize their health and well-being through breastfeeding. It honored mothers, not in the condescending manner of popular culture, but through acknowledging and celebrating the tremendous power mothers have in promoting healthier and more productive societies starting with their own families. It respected the agency of babies as individual human beings with their own rights and autonomy as partners in the breastfeeding relationship. It honored the mother/baby dyad as the foundation of society."
Wow, so those companies are you using medical waste to create food for babies?
That’s really nothing new in the food industry though.
Thanks for sharing this.
Not sure I have the heart to read this right now. I feel a crushing darkness coming on. Is this about milk donation Fury Road style, synthetic “human milk” production or men claiming to be Mothers...? 😱😱😱
Let’s avoid this dystopian future, or any variation on it...
Thanks for re-publishing these important pieces!
I have, in turn, cross posted
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/a-song-is-born-part-2
Dusty
Yummy. Does it taste like pennies?
Thanks so much for this Lucy. So much of the messaging is insidious and slowly accepted. I’ve been following a FB group for years called milk4tiny humans but I’ve realised it’s now called human milk and I just didn’t cotton on to this change in language.
Feeding "human milk" erases any need for mothers because anyone can do this. All you need is "lactator" (or going forward, a lab), no women required.