Just one more thing…
About that breastfeeding thing. Go ahread and skip this post if the issue of lactation bores you.
I had originally posted the link as a study on what was wrong with law enforcement, not the mother. Although I do know women who still occasionally breastfeed their kids at older ages (7 years old, in one case), it’s probably not what I would choose to do myself. However, I would like to point out this article by Kathy Dettwyler, an anthropoligist at Texas A&M, which looks at studies done on other mammalian species in regards to natural weaning. If (most of) the world weren’t so hung up on boobs as sexual objects, and if mothers breastfed rather than bottlefed, it looks like the average age for weaning would be 4 years or more. My almost-3-year-old still needs a pacifier to sleep. If she didn’t have an ingrained need to suck (not to be crass), she wouldn’t need one. It’s the same need that makes kids suck their thumbs, a sight that’s common in first graders and beyond.
I understand that breastfeeding, and most especially extended breastfeeding, is flame fodder. I’m a card-carrying member of La Leche League and strongly believe in breastfeeding for both physical and emotional benefits to both baby and mother. I also realize that the only evolutionary reason that women have breasts is to feed children. Over the centuries, breasts have become sexualized to the degree that even admitting that you breastfeed past 6 weeks is looked down upon by some. I find the whole issue depressing, as it’s yet another example of arrogant Man imposing his own moral system on something that is perfectly innocent and beneficial. Breastfed kids have been shown to have higher IQs than their formula fed counterparts (if I had been breastfed, you wouldn’t be able to stand me, I’d be so damned smart), and it’s been calculated that for every year a woman breast-feeds, it cuts her risk of breast cancer by 4.3%. That’s absolutely amazing, isn’t it?
August 23rd, 2002 at 9:46 am
i know it’s not directed at me, per se. but as my best friend, you do know that i am all in favor of breastfeeding, and that all three of my kids were breastfed, for a time. i stopped around four months because it began to be more difficult for me once i returned to work, and my babysitters were less willing to store and properly heat breastmilk for my kids while i was away. ideally, i would have nursed them for at least a year, and maybe until they were potty-trained. during my three pregnancies, i read voraciously about the benefits to mother and child of nursing, and to this day it is perhaps the strongest evidence i have seen that our ecosystem was lovingly crafted by a higher power.
i understand that you were questioning the actions of the government and not those of the mother. however, i feel that her behavior very nearly constitutes sexual abuse, and definitely warrants investigation. for that reason, i feel the authorities acted appropriately, if not a little late.
ok, i’m done 🙂
August 28th, 2002 at 8:11 am
And that’s exactly what’s wrong with perceptions, Michigan. Why is it sexual abuse? The mother is not forcing her child to do so. *shrug*