Friday, January 6, 2012

Normalizing Breastfeeding.

You have probably seen (Or heard) of the Sesame street & Breastfeeding clips that have recently been going viral on Facebook & the Blogspere.((If you haven't ...or even if you have; Read on!))
I first saw it on a FB Breastfeeding support group I'm a fan of (I believe it was The Leaky B@@b)
Had posted a video of a 70s episode of Sesame Street Featuring The Character Buffy Sainte Marie, a Popular Singer/Songwriter  who was featured on the Show for many years, Breastfeeding her son Cody. 
NOW, if you had told me two years ago ... that someone was BREASTFEEDING ON SESAME STREET!?! I honestly DON'T know what I would have thought (The Image that  probably would  have come to mind is somewhat similar to 'GirlsGoneWild' featuring the residents of Sesame Street staring and panting)

 *pantpantpant*

I believe that to be a very Typical reaction of North American Culture, considering almost EVERYONE with the exception of Direct relatives of Breast-fed babies sees breasts as sexual objects as opposed to the best  source of nutrition available to babies, as nature intended. 
 I am a much more mature person that I was 2 years ago ... (Obviously)
and, being a breastfeeding mother, I Believe naturalizing our culture to Breastfeeding and the god-given intention of Breasts is VITAL. I FELL IN LOVE with this video, It is SOOO tasteful and was very Reminiscent of when Big T first saw me breast feeding. Big bird's reaction and questions seem a very Typical reaction of a child ...and is almost a mirror image of our Dialouge.

 Here it is; 1977 - Buffy Nurses Cody (Thanks for Sharing  )






Then, sometime in the 80's (Judging by her hair) we have Maria Nursing Gabriella
(VERY similar to the Big Bird / Cody / Buffy Clip) 






For Whatever reason, there was never one filmed in the 90's or since.
The clips were never pulled from TV and there were no complaints.
I would LOVE to see a breastfeeding clip on modern Children's shows... such as sesame street. It could not possiby do any harm, as Children don't understand sex... They Don't need to. I think if Nursing / Breastfeeding was portrayed in the Media (Sesame Street even ;) ) if Children were to be exposed to breastfeeding, it  would be a step in the right direction for naturalizing our culture to breastfeeding. I think it's pretty much too late for our generation, but we can consider ourselves pioneers,  Nursing Mothers should not be confined to Dirty washrooms (or clean ones for that matter) and Lonely bedrooms to keep our children happy or healthy.

I am very passionate about this subject (If you couldn't tell from the wall-of-text above) and am trying to take action (Despite my own personal phobia of public 'exposure' ) as much as possible so that in the future, Breastfeeding mothers need not feel the terror I currently experience when I feed my Child.

There is a petition on Bringing breastfeeding back to Sesame Street,
HERE in which (SO FAR) 80% of people have voted 'YES' ...
Please go and Place your vote ... I'm certain that though this petitaion has no legal standing,
it will give sesame street producers an idea ... an Idea that I would LOVE to see come to fruition.



Peace, Love and Happy Nursing,

4 comments:

  1. I love this post. I would love to see more liberal thinkers in the world and have everyone accept that breast feeding is the 'NORMAL" way.. not to be hidden from the world. Breast feeding mommies unite.. and be PROUD!!

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  2. I just love this post. I myself am very modest and use a cover, but I am getting more comfortable bf in public. I have to say it amused me that you mentioned Maria's hair was why you assumed the clip was from the 80's. Hubby and I do that all the time when we see a picture of someone from that decade.
    Have to say I never realized that there were any episodes of bf on Sesame Street. Definitely agree that it would be great to have one now.
    Also have to say I love that last picture. Funny.

    Just wanted to let you know that I tagged you.
    http://totsandme.blogspot.com/2012/01/tagged.html
    Have a great afternoon.

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  3. Thanks for the comment love :)
    I use facilities when provided and try to cover up, but it is hard, as I bare-all when I'm at home, and my LO is very squirmy.... which, in turn draws attention to us ... it's kind of a catch 22, I wish we lived in a world where we didn't need to cover up :)

    Thanks for the tag! Love it! :)

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  4. Hi Krystyl (btw my 15 yr old is named Krystal)
    I just saw this article on Shine from Yahoo in response to this petition
    http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/sesame-street-teach-kids-breastfeeding-185000424.html

    ReplyDelete