M.I.L.C. Virtual Nurse-in For the normalisation, protection and promotion of breastfeeding

M.I.L.C. Event to kick off on August 1, 2009, during Breastfeeding Awareness Week.

Host:	Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene! (Official petition to Facebook)
Type:	Causes - Protest
Network:	Global

Start Time:	Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 12:00am
End Time:	Friday, August 7, 2009 at 6:00pm
Location:	Your Facebook Profile

Description

The Mother's International Lactation Campaign (M.I.L.C.) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the normalization, protection and promotion of breastfeeding.

In 2008 and 2009 via the Facebook group "Hey Facebook, Breastfeeding is not Obscene!(official Petition to Facebook)" The organization hosted two nurse-in events on the popular social networking site. Facebook continues to remove depictions of breastfeeding from their site, demeaning women and encouraging the misconception that breastfeeding is in any way a lewd, sexually explicit or offensive act and is inappropriate content for their site. Facebook has issued several public statements in response to the petition group, claiming to support breastfeeding but removing some images out of "concern for the safety of the many young users of the site."

The virtual nurse-ins received extensive media coverage all around the world and membership in the petition group has surpassed 240,000. On one designated day, participants simply posted as their profile picture the image of a nursing mother and changed their status line to: Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene. Individuals used a very diverse and representative range
of images for the event including personal photographs, historic works of art and international symbols.

August 1-7, 2009 is World Breastfeeding Week.

http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/

Please join us once again in a peaceful demonstration to Facebook to let them know that breastfeeding is not
obscene, and women should have the right to share images of it on Facebook. Participants need not be nursing mothers nor even female for that matter, the event does not require you to go anywhere, write anyone or donate a single cent. It all happens on Facebook. Let's tell them that the support and promotion of breastfeeding on global social networking sites is an important step in the cultural normalization and protection of breastfeeding. Babies have a right to be breastfed, and women should be supported and encouraged to nurse their babies. When society sends the message that breastfeeding is private, awkward, offensive or socially
inappropriate, breastfeeding initiation and duration rates are affected. Negatively.

For all or any part of the week of August 1-7, please show your support by changing your Facebook profile picture to one depicting a mother nursing her young. A photograph, a drawing, sculpture, symbol or even a photo of your cat or dog nursing a litter. Really, it is so very simple to participate. Click to attend the event, borrow a picture or post your own and change your status line to Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!

That's all there is to it. Show your support. Invite all your contacts to do the same. Thank you!


http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=2517126532

http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/event.php?eid=39521488436

http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/event.php?eid=74481493344

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We are also very interested to know what initiatives, activities or promotional events are being undertaken in your own communities to support World Breastfeeding Week. Please feel free to use the wall space or post links to promote activities or events that you are aware of in your community or special thoughts or ideas that you may have to help protect, promote and normalize breastfeeding. Thank you for your support.

Copied from http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=691995552&share_id=101237224212&ref=nf#/event.php?eid=102988089741&ref=share

My profile pic is already a nursing picture, with no plans of changing it any time soon!


+ add link

Hooray for Boobies! Onesie by Skreened

Hooray for Boobies! @ Skreened



The Hooray for Boobies! nursing picnics raise public awareness and acceptance of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding babies, mommies and anyone else who supports breastfeeding are invited to participate in celebrating the wonderfully multi-functional purpose of breasts... especially their perfect ability to nourish and nurture babies! The Hooray for Boobies! nursing picnic goals are to combat the oversexualization of the breast in Western culture and to bring exposure to the naturality and beauty of breastfeeding.

About Hooray for Boobies!: Lactivists Lauren Damon and Tiffany Deering co-founded the organization and collaborated on the first Hooray for Boobies! nursing event, which was held in June 2009 at Columbus, Ohio. Their focus is on advocating breastfeeding by helping others to coordinate and publicize their own local nursing events.



Hooray for Boobies! One-Piece
Breastfed babies are proud that their mommies nurse them and they want everyone to know it!

On June 28, 2009, Lauren and I received an e-mail from Jennifer O'Hern, a writer for the Dayton Parenting Examiner. She said that she had been following the "Hooray for Boobies!" event online and would like to write a follow-up article. Lauren has answered the questions we asked, and I hope to fill in some blanks with my blog about the event.

I am fortunate to not have experienced harsh discrimination in terms of my breastfeeding. The most is a slight discomfort from family that were not comfortable being in the same room as I nursed and some comments that probably came from a place of ignorance rather than spite, such as "You're feeding him again?" Most of the feelings I felt about being nervous or embarrassed about nursing in public I probably projected on myself, harboring a fear of being repelled by society which may or may not have been warranted. Honestly, while I haven't been confronted by any rude person, I have been made very well aware that others were uncomfortable.

Seeking out kindred spirits of the lactating kind, I didn't know any in person and therefore ended up in the group "Hey Facebook! Breastfeeding is not obscene!". There new thought-provoking ideas and intensive education were presented and I absorbed it all like a sponge, seeking out more and more. A passion ignited, and when I attempted to share this passion, I was met with opposition from my family. This only made my flame grow stronger. I had a desire to be a part of something bigger in the lactivism equation, contemplated becoming a lactation consultant, urged the group to plan another M.I.L.K. event so I could participate, got braver in the nursing photos I posted online as I actively pursued avenues online on which I could advocate breastfeeding.



When my breastfeeding picture (left) got banned by Facebook, that prompted me to take the next step and I launched "The Crunchy Lactavist" website. About that time, Lauren had the idea to have a nursing event at ComFest. I offered my help in publicizing the event using my marketing and graphic design skills, and advertising it on my website. While becoming a lactation consultant could take years (I've recently enrolled in college to pursue this avenue as well), I have talents I can utilize now to have an impact.

I have spent the last six months since my son was born educating myself about breastfeeding... the biological facts, the politics, the statistics. It bothers me greatly that the state of Kentucky ranks so low on their nursing rates, a good 20% behind 45 other states. I have radical ideas about the W.I.C. program and government legislation and programs supporting breastfeeding mothers. I desire that everyone be informed about breastfeeding, so that through knowledge and awareness, nursing will be normalized in our society to the point that it will be unusual to see a formula-fed infant.

The "Hooray for Boobies!" nursing picnic hosted at ComFest in Columbus, Ohio, on June 26-27, 2009, might not have had many participants. We knew from the beginning that it might not; it was a rather last-minute idea, but ComFest is not the end but rather the beginning for "Hooray for Boobies!" Thanks to the publicity of the event, it helped create awareness about the topic, and that in itself is a success. The knowledge we gained about what to do and what not to do will help with future event coordination (the next event is planned for Elizabethtown, Kentucky in August). One expectant mother approached me, asking questions about breastfeeding (I think she asked it if hurt when my six-month old latched on in front of her). As Lauren said, we "literally exposed thousands of people to our issue" between the media coverage and the actual public nursing. Even though there weren't many mothers with us, we were still able to impact thousands of people by walking around and allowing them to witness breastfeeding in person, and for many that might have been the first time they had ever seen it. I did nurse while topfree Saturday afternoon.

We arrvied a little late. The first problem we encountered was parking. Second, we realized that we should have been more specific about what part of the playground we were meeting at, the place was huge and so were the crowds. When we got bored sitting, we decided to walk around. I opted to go topfree while carrying my son in a sling, and he would nurse off and on as we circulated around the festival. Two women spoke to us, it was great that they treated me like I had my clothes on, I felt so awkward! They talked to the baby, and cheered me on and let us know how great they thought it was we were advocating breastfeeding.



I tried my best to look everyone in the eye and smile, per the Indiscreet Breastfeeding Manifesto on my website. It got easier the more I did it, especially towards the end of the day when more and more women were going topfree as well. The highlight of my day was when I was letting my son have some air-time sans diaper in the grass and a woman came over with her little dog, who was interested in the baby. My son loves dogs, and we struck up a conversation. In the midst of our discussing pregnancy (as it turned out, she was expecting), my son decided he was hungry and he latched on in front of her. She asked if it hurt, I was honest and admitted that sometimes, especially at first, it can hurt... but over time it gets so easy. We spoke for a while about various parenting isuues, and she let us know how encouraged to breast feed she was after our chat. That truly truly made all of this worth it!

For more about the nursing picnic in Columbus, please visit the special page designated to ComFest on the TERA website: http://tera.ca/photos8.html

The Other Paper Cover Story Lacto-intolerant

The Other Paper Cover Story Lacto-intolerant

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Kudos to Lauren!!!!
Hooray for Boobies!

Resources for Breastfeeding Printables

Hooray for Boobies! nursing picnic participants will not be able to hand out leaflets. However, we have some booths that are willing to distribute leaflets on our behalf. If participating, please consider printing out any quantity of any of the following and bringing them so that we can help spread the word and normalize breastfeeding.

There are some great handouts printable at the INFACT site... it all depends on what angle you want to go for

http://infactcanada.ca/FactSheets.htm

Are you wanting to present info against formula?
http://www.infactcanada.ca/RisksofFormulaFeeding.pdf

Support for nursing in public? I recommend the Indiscreet Breastfeeding Manifesto
*new! printable manifesto

Perhaps with the laws about nursing in public:

Breastfeeding Pocketguide

Please just make sure that you do not distribute any leaflets at the event, but give them to Lauren and she will make sure they get to a willing ComFest booth holder.

Hooray for Boobies! Nurse-in Event

The “Hooray for Boobies” nursing picnic to raise public awareness and acceptance of breastfeeding is scheduled to be held at Goodale Park in Columbus, Ohio this June.

Breastfeeding babies, mommies and anyone else who supports breastfeeding are invited to participate in celebrating the wonderfully multi-functional purpose of breasts... especially their perfect ability to nourish and nurture babies! The “Hooray for Boobies!” nurse-in event, coordinated by Lauren Damon, will be held in Goodale Park in Columbus, Ohio, on June 26 & 27. While not required, participants will be encouraged to breastfeed topfree, which is legal in the state of Ohio. A sister virtual event is being held online for those on Facebook, asking participants to change their status for the day to "Hooray for Boobies! I am celebrating the wonderfully multi-functional purpose of breasts... especially their perfect ability to nourish and nurture babies! http://normalizebreastfeeding.info/events.htm"

The nurse-in will be held at the playground in Goodale Park, event hours are as follows:
June 26, 2009 12pm - 5pm
June 27, 2009 10am-1pm, break, 4pm-7pm

The picnic happens to coincide with ComFest, but there is no affiliation with the ComFest Event.

The “Hooray for Boobies!” event goals are to combat the oversexualization of the breast in Western culture and to bring exposure to the naturality and beauty of breastfeeding.

We ask that you please help publicize this event by printing the poster on our website and displaying it as many places as possible and by spreading the word. Also, please consider making a contribution to help fund this event. Costs for this event mostly involve printing and travel; excess donations will go towards coordinating future events nationwide and publishing educational materials that will help promote breastfeeding. Hooray for Boobies!

Printable poster (PDF) http://normalizebreastfeeding.info/comfest_flyer.pdf

About “Hooray for Boobies!”:

Lauren Damon, a mother in Ohio, had the idea that ComFest would be the perfect place to host a nurse-in to raise breastfeeding awareness and support. She posted her idea on the group discussion board of “Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!”. Group member and fellow lactivist Tiffany Deering responded to the post, offering her assistance as market coordinator, the two proceeded to collaborate and the “Hooray for Boobies!” nurse-in picnic was born. They were too late to get a booth at ComFest, however, and so while the event will be slightly limited to a simple picnic of friends who happen to be nursing together, it is still one important way to help normalize breastfeeding and help establish this pro-active lactavism event.

Contact: Tiffany Deering

E-mail: crunchylactavist@gmail.com

Web: http://normalizebreastfeeding.info

The press release and an interview with event coordinator are available for download online:

http://normalizebreastfeeding.info/Hooray_for_Boobies_Press_Release.pdf

http://normalizebreastfeeding.info/Hooray_for_Boobies_Press_Release.doc

Columbus Event:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=88619158525

Virtual Event:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=114196877183

Fan Page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hooray-for-Boobies/84614848033