The Latest PDX Uproar

Here is the latest media item to ignite a fury in Portland (Bill Maher's tirade on breastfeeding). I haven't been able to watch the clip yet to determine his tone when he made the comments. I certainly agree with one of his points that we are all quite provincial and tend to only focus on the "issues" that affect us. I'm not sure that problem is ever going to go away though especially with the state of our educational system. Awareness, a sense of connection, and empathy are not high on most teacher's lesson plans I am imagining. I also sort of resonate with his point about mothers' glorifying motherhood and wanting a medal for it. Motherhood is glorious and rewarding and incredibly important because you are raising a small person who is going to grow up and be part of the future. And it is really hard because of the work involved, the sometimes isolation that it causes, and the expectations that we and others place on ourselves. However, it has been been done for a really long time and perhaps if we stopped taking it all SO seriously we might enjoy ourselves a little bit--and still manage to raise healthy, resilient, loving children. But, if he is seriously grossed out by breastfeeding, he needs to get a serious grip. I won't bother to take the time to dissect his comparison of it to masturbation--hello? If he really is against women breastfeeding when it is convenient to them and the babies, that position is ridiculous and a sad commentary on our compartmentalized society.