Moms Gone Wild: Why Bill Maher is Wrong about Breastfeeding

On Friday's episode of Real Time, Bill Maher introduced one of his "new rules," "Lactate Intolerant," in which he argues against breastfeeding in public. As he explained, he doesn't want women showing their tits in public unless they are appropriately packaged for heterosexual male consumption. (Revealing what he thinks is appropriate, he made a snide reference to Britney Spears' body in one of the other new rules, drawing a good laugh. My goal here is not to defend her, but only to point out that Bill Maher's idea of an acceptable female body, along with many members of his audience, is incredibly narrow.)

For someone who claims to believe in science, Bill's queasiness around breastfeeding seems more than a little bit irrational. A huge body of evidence suggests that breastfeeding provides incredible health benefits to both infants and mothers. (For the FDA statement on this, click here.) It not only provides babies with antibodies that help them avoid illness, it also may protect mothers against breast and ovarian cancers later in life. There is evidence that breastfeeding provides psychological benefits to infants and that breastfed infants develop higher IQs. There's even evidence that breast-fed babies are less prone to obesity later in life -- and obesity is something that Bill Maher is clearly against. Breastfeeding saves on healthcare costs, and it is clear that advocating in favor of breastfeeding is in the interest of public health. And yet the vast majority of mothers do not breastfeed for the full 12 months recommended by Health and Human Services. In fact, less than 30 percent of mothers are breastfeeding when their babies reach six months of age.

Given that it's so good for their babies and themselves, why don't more mothers breastfeed? One reason is that there is inadequate maternity leave for most women, making it hard for women who want or need to work outside the home to establish breastfeeding. Another reason is that many employed women don't have enough privacy at work to pump milk. But we shouldn't underestimate the impact of people like Bill Maher who are squeamish about the fact that humans are mammals. Coworkers who don't want women leaving icky breast milk in the office refrigerator because it grosses them out. Those who can't handle the idea that babies should also get to eat when the family is at Applebees, even if they are having something healthier than what's on the menu. So Bill Maher says that breastfeeding mother's are too lazy to plan ahead, presumably because they can arrange it so that their babies don't need to eat while they're out. Obviously he has never had to manage life within small windows of opportunity between feedings or he would know that timing a baby's hunger is just not possible. Perhaps he would prefer that breastfeeding mothers never leave the house -- another recipe for reducing breastfeeding rates. Sometimes people, especially those without children, seem to forget that mothers are people too -- we need to have friends, social lives, and activities beyond the confinement of our living rooms.

Bill Maher obviously doesn't understand the benefits of breastfeeding to public health, since he claims that breastfeeding is not worthy of activism. He says that it's "petty and parochial." Apparently he also doesn't understand that supporting breastfeeding is not only good for public health, it's also part of reproductive justice -- along with the availability of contraception, the legality of abortion, the right to informed consent or refusal of medical procedures when giving birth -- all rights that many women currently do not have. When he claims that women's reproductive activities are yucky and should go underground, he is colluding with the people who want to control reproduction and sexuality -- not normally the folks he counts among his friends (with the possible exception of Ann Coulter). He may be in favor of the kind of sex he wants to have with the kind of bodies he wants to have it with, but his attitudes toward women are stuck in the Dark Ages.

Of course, so are his attitudes about babies, which he says are not special because creating a baby is "something a dog could do." First, Bill, dogs don't make human babies. But all babies, including puppies, are adorable -- they have to be so that we want to protect them. It's a survival thing. Beyond that, we can all respect that Bill Maher doesn't want to have children and perhaps we're all better off for that. But Bill needs to respect the fact that other people's children are the ones who will be paying into Social Security when he reaches retirement age. If anyone is going to make the scientific discoveries that help to resolve the problems that Bill cares about, like global warming, it will be other people's children. Parents, and especially mothers, are providing a public good by taking care of their children's health and development. So instead of criticizing them for making you queasy, maybe you should cheer them on.

Follow Louise Marie Roth on Twitter: www.twitter.com/louiseroth

Comments

[willisbones]

Wow! 196 comments on breastfeeding and still counting. I am impressed. It must be a darn popular subject, so, I'd like to throw my two cents worth in, if I may. I have four things to say.
First, breatfeeding is an important issue and Bill Maher is a comedian. If what he says isn't funny to you, don't laugh. He can't make everyone laugh all the time.
Second, breastfeeding rates are low because the formula makers virtually force their products on new moms in the hospital, and if there is any hesitation on the newborn's part to nurse right away, hospital workers are all too quick to give mom the formula.
Third, as long as our children (especially the young ladies) are taught that formula is just as good as breast milk they will make the wrong choice too often, thinking "six of one, half dozen of the other."
And lastly, any talk about needing "laws" that govern a woman's right to care for her baby in the most natural way imaginable is ludicrous. The more women choose to breastfeed the more "used to it" our society will become.

[kittycago]

breastfeeding rates are low because the formula makers virtually force their products on new moms in the hospital, and if there is any hesitation on the newborn's part to nurse right away, hospital workers are all too quick to give mom the formula.
-----------------------------------------------if you have not thought about the option to nurse or not once during the nine months of pregnancy you have far bigger problems than the power of suggestion by any hospital staff.

[dapaul]

Jeez. Americans are still Victorian prudes. I've been to third world countries, most of which are very prudish compared to American standards, but one thing that they are not prudish about is breastfeeding. Try going to a village in Africa or Bangladesh, and you will see all kinds of women "whipping it out" to feed their babies, maybe because they don't have pumps and bottles to feed their babies so that they can avoid offending sensitive American men and women. These countries also don't have women wearing cleavage baring tank tops and string bikinis. Which is more healthy, I ask you?

[zimtgirl]

I can't believe we are still having this discussion. It's 2007, people. Why in the world is it appropriate for girls to walk around with low rise jeans, tramp stamps on their arses and their breasts hanging out, but I can't nurse my baby in public without being told to cover up???? Americans need to grow up. I lived in Europe while nursing my baby and no one ever gave us a second look, no matter how acrobatic my son was behaving. Could someone please explain why the idiot blondes at the Playboy Mansion can let their mammary glands be 90% exposed to Mr. Maher, but he can't handle a mother appropriately mothering her child? Please.

[freaktown]

Bill isn't against breastfeeding.

He's against breastfeeding in PUBLIC!

There's a difference...

[marko77]

Why not just breast feed an infant in a private setting? Is that too much to expect or ask? Most people don't want to see breastfeeding in public and, if in a restaurant, don't want to have to move, or try to ignore it. Show some consideration.

I think this stems from too much damn Rikki Lake and Jerry Springer viewing.

[kittycago]

Why not just breast feed an infant in a private setting? Is that too much to expect or ask? Most people don't want to see breastfeeding in public and, if in a restaurant, don't want to have to move, or try to ignore it. Show some consideration.

I think this stems from too much damn Rikki Lake and Jerry Springer viewing.
-----------------------------------------------
the only private place in an Applebees is the restroom and the day you eat your meal there is the day you should expect an infant to do the same.Now before you stereotype me as a person who wants to bare my breast in public for any reason read my prior post.There are no private places in most public places except for the restroom.That is the kind of remark that makes nursing mothers go crazy.If I sit in my car there are windows and beleive me if your nursing a baby in a car for privacy reasons people pass by and look.We had a landmark case in my little Ct town when a police officer ticketed a nursing mother for nursing her child in her car .He ticketed her for indescent exposure .This led to a law being made that specifically addressed nursing in public.Do not ask us to do any more than you do when we are feeding our children by providing a clean ,warm envoirment for that child to nurse.

[BillLumbergh]

For all you women that claim that breast-feeding is a completely "natural", "non-sexual" act; perhaps you could tell us all if you'd be offended or uncomfortable if a male patron of the restaurant put down his fork and stared at your bare breast the entire time you are "feeding".
If your honest answer is yes, then you've finally got a grip on the true nature of the situation.
You and your baby are not the center of the universe.

[mddem]

I don't want to see Bill's breasts either. So I guess we're even.

[Mufasa]

As I remember it Bill wants Moms to cover up. His rant was based off someone breastfeeding at Applebee's. They asked her to just cover up, because people don't need to see that while they are eating. I guess there is potential to ruin appetites.

In public places it needs to be. You can claim it's a natural occurrence and a beautiful thing, that's fine. Next time I feel like having sex at a restaurant don't even bother asking me to cover up, because it's a natural occurrence and a beautiful thing. I know the comparison is exetreme, but I'm sure you see where I'm coming from.

[Kungfublood]

Well I just want to say in defence of Bill Maher that people suffering from profound feelings of jealousy and envy are seldom rational.

[Ramydawn]

Bill Mahr is right. I am all for nursing. I nursed my son for two years. I just put a blanket over my shoulder and breast. Why does it have to be a public display? Why is it that some people have to raise a big stink over nothing? What's wrong with a little modesty? This isn't about the merits of breast feeding, it's about discretion. I agree with Bill!

[PresumptuousInsect]

This is a dishonest argument. You are arguing against things that Bill NEVER said. And I agree with his actual argument. The restaurant did not ask the woman to leave but to simply cover up a little. To me, the sound of the slurping and sucking is not something I want to hear while I am eating. And people cannot automaticallys shift their perceptions of breasts as associated with a private, sexual act, no matter how often you proclaim the health benefits of breast milk. Which, by the way, in no way addresses Bill's argument. A woman whipped out her breast and started nursing at an academic conference panel recently. As the baby sucked and gurgled, the woman kept calling attention to herself by asking everyone within earshot, "Do you mind? Do you mind?" over and over again. The hell? Believe me, none of us within ten feet of that women got to hear the panel at all.

I have a dog with special needs, and I have to make all kinds of accommodations and changes in my schedule for her. If I had an infant I would certainly be prepared to make many more accommodations during the time I was breastfeeding. So what if I am expected to put a towel over my breast at a restaurant? I wouldn't particularly want the whole damn world looking at my breast, anyway. As Bill says, if this is what passes for activism, then we really are a sorry nation of narcissists.

[hallva1]

I have never, in my life, seen a woman "flaunting her breasts" while breastfeeding in public. Talk about strawmen/women. This is language used by people who 1)don't realize that babies MOVE 2)are uncomfortable with breasts in general.

[bar1ed]

that's one lucky kid !!!! at my age I've got to eat brand flakes to keep healthy.

[kittycago]

Bill was crude but then again Bill is crude but his message was right if you could get to it through his complete crudenss in the name of entertainment.I breastfed all 4 of my children everywhere I went.I was told to go to the ladies romm once and my response to that was "do you eat in a bathroom?'That being said there is one thing I always did -cover myself up with a cloth diaper or baby blanket.Not because I was ashamed but I always felt the only peopel that should see my breasts were my husband and children.Maybe if Bill had any respect at all for mothers who have children he would have made this point but instead he used a cheap shot likening us to dogs and abused women in a communist nation that drowns baby girls.
He should not be the delivery boy for the message but I agree with him.Cover up and nurse where ever you want especially because there are people like Bill Maher with a 6th grade boy's mentality of a women's breasts.
I worked years ago for the LaLeche League to encourage breast feeding so I hope a cable comedian with an immature attitude doing a comedy skit discourages no woman from that personal decision.In this case it is okay to shoot the messenger but heed the message and keep this natural act dignified and pure just so people like him have no reason to comment.

[whirly]

It's funny how Bill can dismiss childbirth by saying dogs can do it too. Truth is, neither male humans nor male dogs can give birth to children, so they will never understand the mothering/breastfeeding role we women play. However, when he equates having to masturbate with having to breastfeed, I just have to laugh. When he needs to masturbate, does his penis stand up and wiggle inside of his pants and try to tug on his zipper incessantly until he unzips? Does it cry in a loud piercing way that tugs at his heart and causes a physical response that make his breasts leak? Does he just try to ignore his penis so it will maybe, hopefully be quiet, but in doing so it cries even louder? If so, Bill, then I understand your need because when my baby has to eat, I feel the very same way. So if you ever need to discreetly masturbate in public because your penis just will not be calmed, I am sure many of us nursing mothers would be happy to send you a blanket to cover up.