I Breastfeed,Therefore, I'm Stoopid! Err, Stewpid? Wait... What Was The Question?
Monique | Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 5:29AM The time is currently 1:21am.
I don't know what drags me onto The Stir, which I usually don't frequent unless a post from Christie Haskell pops up in my Facebook news feed, but I'm there.
I've just nursed my sweet {read as: evil and teething} baby boy to sleep and he is curled up beside me, all warm and cozy and cute and for the love of bob, QUIET. I, am winding down from my day, which could only be described as "Car-azy!"
{We purchased a more reliable vehicle for our move today, so "car-azy" for "car" {even though it's an SUV} and "crazy". Get it? It's cool, I'm awesome.}
Anyway, I'm reading this article about Elizabeth Taylor, whom I can only remember from those bizarre "White Diamonds" commercials and I see something in the corner of my eye that I need to read. Right. Effing. Now.
Apparently, most people find breastfeeding moms to be of inferior intellect. That means, for all you breastfeeders especially; We dumb!
According to Miller-McCune, in one study, participants were given two descriptions of actress Brooke Shields -- one included "bottle-feeding," and the other included "breastfeeding." Those who read she was breastfeeding found her "significantly more warm and friendly compared to the bottle-feeding mother, but significantly less competent in general, and less competent in math specifically,”
-The Stir
And more:
In another experiment, 55 students were told they were participating in a study of how people form impressions of others in the face of limited information. They were asked to judge a woman they got to know by listening to her telephone answering machine.
Specifically, they heard a message in which a man talks about changing the time of their dinner date. The rest of the message varied: Some participants heard a neutral conclusion, while others heard a reference to breastfeeding (“I figured you would want to go home and breastfeed the baby”), motherhood (“I figured you would want to go home and give the baby a bath”), or sexuality (“I figured you would want to go home and change into your strapless bra”).
The breastfeeding woman “was viewed significantly more negatively compared to the neutral voicemail on all measures of competence,” Smith and her colleagues found. The woman in the strapless bra was also labeled as less competent, suggesting that the bias faced by breastfeeding woman “is similar to the once experienced by a woman for whom the breast is sexually objectified,” the researchers add.
-Miller-McCune
Who came up with this study? Who asks these questions? Who really thinks "Oh, Brooke Shields! She's like, totally the quintessential mom type!"?
I'm offended! I'm outraged! I am shaking my fists sternly at Wusthof and murmuring mean words at these people, and their opinions! Studies are for lames, I say!
And then I realize.
I suck at math, and I don't exactly exude "warm and friendly" from any orifice of my body.
meh.
I'm partially a statistic and I'll take it.
Because if making the educated, wholehearted decision to dedicate myself to giving my baby superior nutrition, or ensuring that the bond I have with my son starts off strong and close, or if sacrificing my sheer black negligee for the pink one that has covered cups to hide my nursing pads in means that I'm stupid, or less appealing in any way; I'll gleefully go kick rocks with the other breastfeeding imbeciles.
{You should check out the study, hilariously dubbed "Spoiled Milk: Some Other Nonsensical Words That Only Smart People Can Read". Or, something like that.}
Reader Comments (12)
sorry, i'm having problems reading this post. it must be all those years of breastfeeding!
People are stupid and probably projecting when they form those opinions. It just goes to show that the way people are perceived often has no real basis. Love this post though!
I must be of inferior intellect as well breastfeeding three babes. This outrages me! I guess educated means formula feeding bc of the science behind it. Ugh...
What?!?
I've never heard of such a thing. So I'm guessing my inability to produce a sufficient amount of breast milk when my children were babies was my intelligence getting in the way then?
So Mo does this mean Im smarter then you cause I didnt breastfeed? lol OMG I cant believe how stupid people can be like those that BF dont have enough against them anyway they have to go throw this in the mix. I would have to say that those that conducted this study are the ones with the half a brain not the moms that have once again been given another negative label.
So apparently I'm the the dumbest mother for breastfeeding until her baby is almost four years old.
I'll take it. SNORT
See! I knew it was just a little absurd, just one more silly misconception to deflate. I've never, ever looked at a mom, or read about a mom, feeding her baby and thought "Oh wow, feeding her baby! She must be an idiot."
Where do people come up with this stuff?
Isn't Brooke Shields some sort of Ivy League genius?
This is a new one for me. I've heard that people think women breastfeed only because they're poor, though.
Hmmm, I have no idea! I honestly stopped paying attention to Brooke Shields after I read her book, which I was not impressed by. I'm constantly saddened and surprised by the negative stigma surrounding breastfeeding. I didn't realize there were so many different, and ridiculous, ideas on why women breastfed!
I must be super tonta!!! I have been breastfeeding Audrey for 3 years now.... is that why I haven't weaned?!?!?! Cause I'm stupid?!?!
Wow. Just... wow. I don't even know how to respond to that kind of BS, except with... you guessed it... wow.
What I don't understand is that they didn't mention "give the baby a bottle" or "stop at the store to pick up more formula for the baby" so it wasn't about breastfeeding in particular, it was about being a mother in general. So, women procreating and furthering the human race are stupid? Would they call their mother stupid? If they want a slap in the face! Which is what I have for them. :) Also, I'm not a rocket scientist, but I love math and I'm actually quite good at it. I'm also the "smartest" of my friends when it comes to grammar and spelling (English in general) and my writing has been scored by many as high as it can be scored without being considered "technical writing" (like manuals and stuff). Mothers are the smartest, most sophisticated and multi-tasking people out there! So there!