This is not a movie about breastfeeding. It’s about a cultural obsession with large, perfect breasts as sexual objects and how women get them. Most of the documentary focuses on the quest for perfect breasts through breast surgery.

The breastfeeding portion falls under the chapter they titled  ”What are breasts for?” Of course, feeding babies is the last thing anybody thinks of. They had some good stuff to say about breastfeeding, I just wish they made a little more of a point of it! I liked that they featured Dr. Katherine Dettwyler, an expert on breastfeeding from an anthropological perspective. There was also some great director commentary about how important breastfeeding is, under the special features.

So, I’m not exactly recommending this film to readers of my blog. If this sort of cultural exploration interests you, enjoy, just don’t watch it with your kids around. And be sure to keep an eye out for me!

Photo by The Cleveland Leader

I’m a little nervous to tell you my opinion. Most readers of this blog are hugely pro-breastfeeding, and most of the reactions I’ve read among breastfeeding advocates are positive. I agree with some of their points, but ultimately I have a negative reaction to the ad.

I think it’s fabulous that they’re promoting breastfeeding. I like that they’re showing older babies, not newborns. And the image in the media (there are others within the same campaign, but I haven’t been able to find the images online) is an African American baby- this is so important, especially considering the racial disparity in breastfeeding of black mothers in the United States.

Breastmilk Satisfies. It’s so true. I think they chose a good slogan. Studies show that the vast majority of Americans already know that breast milk is the healthiest food for babies, but what they need is societal support, positive associations with breastfeeding, and a familiarity and comfort level with breastfeeding that only comes from exposure to other breastfeeding mothers or images.

But I’ve gotta be honest. I don’t like the image and the subtle messages and feelings that it might convey.

It’s that milk dribbling out of his mouth. Not just one little dribble. It’s coming out the side and over his chin. Regardless of what the child has just been eating, I think it looks messy, unappetizing. And I hate to say this, but the first thought to cross my mind was that the kid looks like a vampire just after a meal. Then I read this take on it and saw that I’m not the only one who thought so.

The unfortunate truth is, a lot of people are turned off by the idea of human milk. Nevermind that it’s such an incredible, clean, nourishing, pure, substance. For those of us who already have a high comfort level with breastfeeding, the image might be cute. But I’m afraid those who still think breast milk is just another bodily fluid are going to be disgusted by this image.

This image just misses the mark. This baby is supposed to be “satisfied,” but he doesn’t look particularly happy or grateful to his mother for her milk. My husband thought he looked sad. Instead giving off positive feelings about breastfeeding, it appears that breastfeeding is messy.

What do you like, and dislike about this ad? Feel free to disagree with me. Do you have any ideas for an image that might be more effective?

This is my short version of the story: a New York chef created some beautiful gourmet cheeses using his wife’s milk, and blogged about it. Readers, other bloggers, and the press, noticed. And they reacted.

Many of the comments were enthusiastically positive. The cheeses look delicious, and many requested to sample it. They were served in his home, not in a restaurant.

But there were some very disgusted, even angry responses. Which makes me wonder, what’s the big deal? Readers compare eating cheese made from breast milk to eating blood and one comment describes the idea unknowingly consuming cheese made from breastmilk as “a part of another human being in my body, it would haunt me forever”.

Yikes. So why is human milk so revolting? Most of us drink and eat milk from cows without giving it a second thought. So let’s give it a second thought.

Cow milk comes from the udders of a hairy 4-legged animal. Most likely one that gets dirty, has been injected with hormones, and fed an unnatural diet of dirt-cheap grain and antibiotics. Cows make milk designed for a baby cow’s body. Human babies can’t drink cow-baby milk. No other animal, besides humans, drinks the milk of another species. (Side note- I have nothing against cows or consuming dairy products. My family drinks cows milk daily. Just stating some facts for comparison.)

Human milk comes from a human mother, who bathes and keeps her breasts covered when not feeding or expressing milk. Human milk is digested easily by humans. Human milk is the cleanest, safest food we can feed our babies- the most sensitive and vulnerable members of our species.

So which is grosser? Cow milk cheese, or human milk cheese? What if the human milk were pasteurized? Would you eat it?

Media links:

ABC News clip: Breast milk cheese banned from restaurant

Today Show clip: Staffer tricked into sampling of breast milk cheese

Related Post:

Breast milk spoils NPR host’s dessert

Lawson: “Someone once said to me that vanillin (which is the thing that makes vanilla smell like it does) is present in breast milk, [Inskeep reacting in the background] so we have some very primitive desire to be comforted by the taste of vanilla ….[laughing in the background, 'I'm sorry'] ….I’m just telling you…. so you could say it’s a kind of Freudian self-indulgence.”

Inskeep: (laughing) “I had a mouthful of it while you were saything that! It’s really more than I needed to know, but thank you anyway.”

I was surprised by his reaction. Was that disgust I heard in his voice? And a twinge of embarrassment? It was subtle, instinctive. It was only a few words, laughs, and then the conversation moved on. But the reference to breast milk obviously made him uncomfortable.

What’s wrong with breast milk? Is it gross and unappetizing because it is a bodily fluid? I’ve heard similar reactions of disgust, amusement, and discomfort when breast milk enters conversation. This makes me sad. For one thing, I am a producer of this substance, and I am proud of it. Unlike certain other bodily fluids, breast milk is not a human waste product. It is the most clean, most sanitary, most natural food that a human will ever taste. Children old enough to talk and retain memories before they are weaned tell us that is is delicious. It is sweet, sweeter than cows milk.

I suspect that his reaction, though, was deeper than that. I think it was because her mention of breast milk implied that what he was eating was, in some way, like breast milk. And that enjoyment of vanilla could be related to a human desire for comfort from breast milk, or the breast itself. And Steve Inskeep sure was enjoying that doughnut french toast.

In response to Lawson’s statement about vanillin: As far as I know, breast milk doesn’t naturally taste like vanilla, but vanilla in the mother’s diet (as well as garlic, mint, and some other distinct flavors) passes easily into breast milk.