Improving On Mother Nature-The World's Oldest Endeavor

Speaking of PETA and, as per the subject of the last post, the prospect of Ben And Jerry's making their ice cream out of human breast milk as opposed to cows milk, the question occurred to me-

WOULD YOU BUY A MILKSHAKE FROM THIS WOMAN?





Evidently a lot of people are concerned that the upcoming W Magazine cover, which features Angelina Jolie breastfeeding one of her two newborn infants, will be perceived in a sexualized manner. I've seen the picture, and of course this is nonsense. You barely see just a hint of breast, and even less of the infant. All you see is a tiny hand-well, clutching something.

The idea of this picture perceived in a sexual manner is absurd enough, but the other end of the extreme seems to hold that this might do wonders for promoting breast-feeding.

"Breast-feeding in public reveals a whole lot less than what has been revealed on the red carpet. ... I think we do need more role models like Angelina Jolie willing to be photographed and say, `Hey look, it can be done, it oughta be done,'" said La Leche spokeswoman Jane Crouse.

Unfortunately, while this might be a viable option for many mothers, a significant amount of them do not produce the vitamins and nutrients in their breast milk sufficient for the needs of a newborn infant. Even in the best of circumstances, the healthiest of mother's breast milk could not hope to compare with the formulas created and approved by pediatricians. Although it is expensive, in most cases for a mother to produce something remotely in that range of nutritional value would require significant consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. Over time, of course, this would amount to a similar expense.

The best that could be said for breast feeding is that it enhances the bonding between a mother and child, and might have other additional physical and psychological health benefits as well. Therefore, perhaps it is to be encouraged for this reason, and to help moderate the expense of formula feeding, but it should remain a supplementary nursing measure, not the primary one.

Of course, the nuttiest among breast feeding advocacy groups insist, among other things, that mothers should continue to breast feed their children as long as the child wishes to continue the practice-even if the child happens to be seven or eight years old, or older. Surprisingly, going by this it would seem that a woman produces breast milk for as long as her child engages in regular feeding.

I guess their point is this is a function of nature. Luckily, in the case of most women, mother nature will also kick in at least by the time the child reaches the terrible twos and, just like your average house cat, the mother will eventually say enough is enough. In almost every case this will be well before we are treated to the sight of a prepubescent child nursing from his mother's breast in a stall of your local MacDonalds.

I guess what irks me more than anything is that this is yet more proof that, in the minds of people that promote almost any movement, the idea that a famous celebrity endorses it is enough to make everybody else go along with it.

If I ever become a dad I would just as soon fork my money over for baby formula. I can easily make it up by cutting out unnecessary expenses. Eliminating movie and concert attendance is one thing that comes to mind.