Green Options

If you have kids and you’ve breastfed in front of them, chances are, your toddler mimics.

Now a Spanish doll, under the guise of teaching little ones that breastfeeding is normal, is trying to capitalize on lactivism.

Problem is, the Bebé Glotón makes breastfeeding seem more unnatural and strange than a natural human process. One commentator, MSNBC’s Dr. Nancy, went so far as to say it “set back feminism 150 years.”

Here’s how this little glutton feeds:

I consider myself a lactivist. I mean, if there is truly a place in the world for a woman who thinks that babies should be fed what nature made for them, instead of the breastmilk from a distantly related species.

That means I know that breastmilk is simply better than formula.

But now an author and feminist says that we should question the breastmilk/formula debate. Is breastmilk really better, or are the differences so minute that it doesn’t matter what you put in baby’s mouth?

Joan Wolf was interviewed by the Times in the UK, where she said,

The evidence to date suggests it probably doesn’t make much difference if you breastfeed.

She says that many studies contradict one another, and others which show no discernible difference in health benefits. There are numerous claims about breastfeeding, she says, which can’t be proven:

(Ready, Cate? 1. Open can of worms. 2. Dump on head.)

NPR recently reported that in some Planned Parenthood clinics, the abortion rate is up.

We’ve seen some people who said that they didn’t really think that they would ever be making this decision, but recognize that this is a time when they have to think about taking care of the families that they have.

I’ve mentioned my mama before around here. She’s the home-birthin’, articulate and soft-spoken, intelligent and wonderful mother of 6 girls. Six vocal girls.

She raised me and my sisters to be pro-life feminists. Then, when I was pregnant with my first child, I became pro-choice.

Here’s why.

The feminist, eco-mom’s lament: What to do about princesses!

For the first two years of my daughter’s life, I shielded her from fairy tales and Disney movies about happily ever after and surrounded her with books about animals and nature. Then, she met a little girl that would become her best friend, who also introduced her to the world of Disney Princesses. I was happy my daughter had formed a strong relationship with another child, but there was no returning to our blissful, royalty-free days.

Breaking princess stereotypes

I’ve read several stories that try to break the princess stereotype, such as Cinder Edna and The Paper Bag Princess. Princess Bubble, written by Susan Johnston and Kimberly Webb, is the story of a princess who is beautiful, a graduate of Royal University, employed by Royal Heir Line, and is happy with her life. As her other princess friends begin to marry their princes, Princess Bubble is pressured by the queen to find a prince.

But, Bubble did not believe just any prince would bring her “happily ever after.” Yet the fairy tales said she must find HER prince! So she put on her thinking crown and re-read the fairy tales for clues on where to find her prince. She soon realized that unlike the other princesses, She was not trapped in a dungeon…She had no wicked stepsisters or stepmother…She did not know any dwarfs…Nor did she live under the sea. But the most confusing part was…She was already happy!