Happy Sunday!
How is your weekend going? I should be napping right now while my little one is sleeping but I thought I’d catch up on a new sweet links post. I know not everyone has Facebook and can keep with the awesome photos and posts that are being shared there. So, this is what is going on. Enjoy!
<3 Paala
Sad news first:
I was abused as a teenager on the director’s casting couch, reveals Hollywood star Thandie Newton - Daily Mail
I posted about child abuse this week and seeing this in the news that same day hit another nerve. Violence against women is too common. Actress Thandie Newton was abused as a child of 16. She spoke out as part of international campaign to end violence against women. She said she was abused aged 16 and 18 when beginning her career and is still scarred by a ‘horrific’ incident involving a director.
This kind of thing is NOT acceptable. When will it stop?
On to more oppression of women…
NC bill could mean prison time for topless women – newsobserver
This breast-ban in North Carolina is pure ridiculousness. They are proposing jail time or misdemeanors for ladies being topless. Bull sh*t in my book. Even if they claim nursing mothers would be excluded. My thoughts on top-free rights - Bare Breasted in New York | paa.la
I like this response by Matt Bewig over on All Gov, ”Considering how dependent humanity is on them for its very survival, hostility toward women’s nipples begs for an explanation. In North Carolina, for example, two state legislators have filed a bill to make it a crime, punishable by up to six months in jail, for women to expose their nipples in public, but their only stated justification for the idea is to put an end to topless rallies in the Smoky Mountain city of Asheville—of which there have been exactly two.” And Esquire pokes fun at NC too, “Yeah, nipples are all funny until somebody loses an eye. And let us not minimize the threat of naked breasts and their increasing throw-weight.” More topless news on TERA.
On to the risks of telling moms that their breasts should be hidden or that their own milk isn’t good enough…
Baby health crisis in Indonesia as formula companies push products by Zoe Williams, Guardian.com
“With poor access to clean water, giving up breastfeeding is a serious health risk in this part of the world – but milk formula companies continue to sign up midwives”
Part of the article – ”She started feeding Riska formula, rather than breastfeeding her, when her daughter was two months old; she was on contraceptives, and thought it was interfering with her milk supply. The midwife agreed, and gave her a free sample of formula milk. Now she spends 400,000 rupiah (about £26) a month on formula, which is half of her husband’s monthly salary. She seemed to be a pretty good example of one of the main problems of formula feeding in Indonesia. Even the cheapest brands punch a huge hole in a poor family’s budget, and they end up over-diluting it, which leaves the babies malnourished.”
That leads me to this next article…
THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF BREAST MILK By Peggy O’Mara on Mothering.com
How much money can the formula companies make if they convince mothers to switch to their product? BILLIONS. Is it any wonder why they push it past acceptable limits?
What is the worth of our breast milk? In lives, thriving children, and dollars? Every time you nurse, remember that you are feeding your child liquid gold, are creating a bonding and educational habitat that cannot be replaced, and be PROUD!
Speaking of being proud, check out this piece about a society that treats “working boobs” entirely different.
Breastfeeding in Mongolia by Ruth Kamnitzer, originally published in Mothering Magazine in 2009. Thank you for sharing it, Peaceful Parenting.
This article about breastfeeding in Mongolia will blow your mind, make you laugh, and want to rise up against the snobbery of the cultures who shame mothers who nurse in public.
“In Mongolia, there’s an oft-quoted saying that the best wrestlers are breastfed for at least six years – a serious endorsement in a country where wrestling is the national sport. I moved to Mongolia when my first child was four months old, and lived there until he was three.
Raising my son during those early years in a place where attitudes to breastfeeding are so dramatically different from prevailing norms in North America opened my eyes to an entirely different vision of how it all could be. Not only do Mongolians breast feed for a long time, they do so with more enthusiasm and less inhibition than nearly anyone else I’ve met. In Mongolia, breastmilk is not just for babies, it’s not only about nutrition, and it’s definitely not something you need to be discreet about. It’s the stuff Genghis Khan was made of.”
Speaking of strong mamas and babies, check out my rockin’ mama friend, The Dragonfly Mother, during her first pregnancy.
Hot mama! From her post, “Hold the phone, I’m pregnant.” She recently explained the story behind the photo. “I used to be apart of a fire spinning group (still am in spirit!), we played with all sorts of fire toys. I remember when this was taken, in a parking lot in South Berkeley, totally felt like a pregnant goddess, plus a bit clumsy considering I was almost 8 months! ”
This is what a snapshot of her life looks like. This is what mine looks like…
Except the baby would be on my lap trying to nurse.
The defining images of 2012: Stunning pictures from the World Press Photo Awards capture every extreme of human life, from Olympic glory to Indian poverty to despair in war-torn Gaza - Daily Mail
Does this remind you of your life too? I would have been annoyed it my husband this photo and submitted it for an international competition but oh well. This is what life looks like.
This was the second prize photo in the World Press Photo Awards. Title: Daily Life. Taken by Soren Bidstrup, of Denmark, for Berlingske, shows a young family waking up early on a summer holiday camping trip in Jeselo, Italy
First place will make you cry so proceed with caution if you click on the link. Daily Mail’s words “WARNING: This story contains images that some readers may find distressing.”
Last bit of parenting humor…
By U.K. cartoonist, Tony Husband. Visit his website here. A color version of this comic here.
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