Monday, May 14, 2012

The Essence of Motherhood

Recently I saw the most hideous Newsweek cover and an article explaining a certain "type" of parenting.  The obviously sensationalised photo on the cover is of a 3 year old boy standing on a chair with his mom standing next to him with her breast in his mouth.  I won't link the picture to my blog b/c I don't want to give it anymore attention that it already has got for the magazine.  I mean, the young and attractive mother in the photo is standing as if she's posing for a fashion mag showing off her outfit...and oh, btw, there's a child attached to her.  Anyway, it's so awkward and misrepresentative.
What really aggrivates me is here in the south, breastfeeding is still such a taboo kind of thing.  My heart skips a beat with joy when I hear of another mom deciding to breastfeed and carry  it out.  In North Carolina it was so easy to call up and make an appointment with a consultant on staff with the OB/GYN office.  There's just not half as much help to the mothers in my area.  There is definitly not enough teaching and training prior to the baby being born.  As a nursing mom of four, my reaction of the photo is that I cringe!!!! The thought of nursing a boy that age!  How demanding that must be for the mom of a little busy body little guy.  However, I do respect the fact that she can let him do that as long as she pleases...I mean he is HER son.  If it makes me cringe, then how must it make the tens of thousands of other women feel? What about the young women whom I will try to educate on the advantages of breastfeeding who have a hard time seeing themselves doing it if all they can picture in thier mind is this photo.  Around here they usually don't have an image of their mom doing it...nor another woman in their family displayed the sweetness of nursing their baby.

Images are so powerful.  We all can motivate ourselves into doing something new and possibly uncomfortable if we can just see someone to whom we relate, doing that very thing.  Suddenly, it doesn't seem so bad after all.  It's the whole "if they can do it then I can do it" paradigm.    What this photo does is make mothers look like selfish weirdos.  It tarnishes the positive efforts and images of breastfeeding.  This magazine, Newsweek, did not at all capture the essence of motherhood but it definitly gave the wrong visual image of motherhood to forever be locked in veiwers' minds.

On that note, I thought I'd share this recent Johnson & Johnson commercial.  This is the Essence of Motherhood.  Warm, compassionate, caring, tender, loving...Enjoy


Happy Mother's Day, Mom -- You're Doing OK from inspiredfaith on GodTube.

 

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