I know I went on and on here on breastfeeding culture and the ongoing discussion/debate about its impact on women, but I had another thought. And you know, this is where I go on and on about my thoughts.
One point that I thought all of the critical articles raised that I think is valid is that breastfeeding is not free because women's time is not free, and it is a significant commitment - physically and emotionally. It can totally be seen as work.
Of course, women's work on every level is devalued in our culture, both inside and outside the home. But ponder for a second - what if we paid women to do the work they do caring for babies? That would be kind of amazing, and a step toward valuing it in a more realistic way. I mean, CEO's make how much, while women get paid how much to be mamas? And which job ends up having more impact on our daily lives and our society? I mean, paternity leave would also help, because fatherhood is terribly undervalued as well and offering real paternity leave would demonstrate to papas that we value them and their contribution as parents as well.
But back to my point. Changing minds about the value of the work of breastfeeding is a totally class-charged thing in the US. We live in a society that doesn't even blink when a member of Congress gets on the floor of the House with a sign that reads "Do not feed the alligators" to illustrate his point that mothers on welfare should be cut off. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, depending on our own level of privilege, income, status, etc., the value we as a society place on mothering as work gets devalued when we degrade mothers on public assistance.
To be a family-friendly society, we have to deal with a lot of issues we have floating around involving racism, sexism, classism, and other deeply-rooted prejudices that are part of so many parts of our culture.
And that was what I was thinking.
Posts
