This morning while watching the news (which on occasion I do to make sure there are no minors stuck in coal mines or Ben & Jerrys hasn’t put out a new flavor) and what do my wondering ears should I hear?
A story about Giselle Bündchen, you know- that leggy supermodel that makes 20 million a year and married to hunky Tom Brady and has probably never had a zit in her life, talking to Harpers Bazaar about breastfeeding.
Nothing annoys me more than celebrities and rich people preaching to others about what we should or shouldn’t do. Sometimes I think rich people need to just shut up and have no opinions. Be grateful they are…well…rich.
Anyhoo.
She says:
“Some people (in the US) think they don’t have to breastfeed, and I think, ‘Are you going to give chemical food to your child when they are so little?’
Then she continues:
“I think there should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breast-feed their babies for six months.”
At first I am slightly put off that she is referring directly to the US in her first quote. Are we last in breastfeeding or something? I don’t know much about it to make an educated comment, but calling out an entire country is just kinda rude.
Shortly after those quotes hit the fan, an additional statement released that was total backpedal city.
Something about her not judging moms. Umm…that train has left the station.
What do you think? Do you think that Breastfeeding should be a LAW?
~Trisha
it should definitely be the law that all women must breastfeed, whether or not they even have children. all citizens should also be required to write good poetry, perform improvised singing on the stage, travel the world, speak three languages, cook creatively, earn graduate degrees, and help people with mental disorders navigate their ups and downs.
i’ve done all those things. unfortunately, after ten weeks of intensive work, lactation consultants, breast pumping, herbal supplements, skin to skin time, nipplr shields, supplementation systems, and the like, i still have a bottle baby who rejects the breast. today i’m giving up. i’m down to two times a day pumping, and have resolved to stop “making the breast available” to the poor tyke, who clearly wants nothing to do with boobs.
i’ve cried over this enough. i don’t need some batshit supermodel—or her earnest equivalents in the La Leche movement—trying to make me feel worse.
My opinion is that when it concerns a persons body, there should NEVER be a law telling an adult what they can and can and cannot do. While I believe that breastfeeding is best for a baby, there are those of us who are unable to do it for our children (myself included) and many people make us feel horrible for that.
I think Giselle is just an idiot.
I already let her have it on my blog today. I never liked that wench, now I have a good reason.
oh how i wish i could have. but i was recovering having a high risk pregnancy myself w/ a son in the NICU. i pumped for several weeks. Then I prayed that the water would be turned into wine..that the formula would have the nutrients of the breastmilk. Talk about guilting people.. no it should not be the law. But they could put extra supports in for folks that really want to but don’t have the help to do it. (I put this along the same lines a law dictating what homemade lunches should have in them. You can dictate what schools have in lunches..but parents need to be able to dictate what they put in homemade lunches.)
I tried to breast feed 2 out of 3 of my kids. I wanted too so bad, but it was not meant to be. my knockers are just too darn huge and I think I scared my babies away!
Anyway I dont think it should be law…that’s just crazy.
You’re kidding right? She made this statement? Ummm….my answer to this question would be ABSOLUTELY NOT! Come on! Let’s make all those moms out there who were unable to breastfeed feel worse than they already (maybe secretly) do. I breastfed for 5 months and felt so guilty about stopping, but in the end, it was what was best for both of us. This is the same Gisele who claims her 6 month old is now potty-trained, correct? Wow, she sounds like a lot of fun! I’ll be sure to invite her to my next social gathering (oh wait, I don’t have many of these). Well, I’m sure my husband would still want her there 🙂 Guess it’s true, you can’t be a gorgeous supermodel married to Tom Brady and be intelligent 🙂
Law? No. I think that like with everything people have to make informed decisions about what’s right for them and their family. We chose not to breastfeed Sarah for a variety of medical reasons. (AFTER speaking with doctors and doing much research) Do I regret it? At times. Do I think that it was best for her at that time? Yes. Do I think so now? Who knows. The problem is you can always go back and question your past choices. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be a parent. Or maybe human. Do I think a supermodel has the authority to judge MY choices? ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY NOT!
She’s crazy. She also said that giving birth didn’t hurt. She’s gone Supermodel Crazy, I tell ya. The flashes from the cameras from all the photoshoots she’s done must’ve messed up her Supermodel brain.
I breastfed both of my kids and some of my best friends have formula fed their kids…who happen to be incredibly smart and healthy. So I say, whatever works best for the mother! Take that, Gisele.
Oh, I was so irritated when I read this! Not everybody has an easy time breastfeeding, I know I didn’t with my 1st born, and I was already going through some post-partum anxiety, so the fact that I could not breast feed, made my anxiety even worse. I wanted more than anything to breast feed and it just was not happening. So for her to say that, so holier than though, makes me so mad, just the way she acted like everyone should gain 0 pounds during pregnancy! She is a piece of work!
Oh wow. Well I have a friend who has a thyroid problem and just found out she can’t breastfeed her baby because she just doesn’t have the milk… she is really upset about it, too. Imagine if it was THE LAW! Goodness, that’s a very naive and stupid and hurtful thing to say. Bet she regrets it. lol
I too have a thyroid problem and have not had issues with breastfeeding my son for the last 2 years
I had to just smirk at this ridiculous article that I read yesterday on this issue of a law being passed. She obviously shows how uneducated she is about breastfeeding!
In Brazil they have boobs hanging out everywhere and nobody says anything. US is the only place in the world that sexualizes and calls breastfeeding gross so Giselle really has no clue. This is the US. Yep it sucks you can’t be comfortable nursing but it is what it is. And the pressure to produce milk or go to jail? Come on!
I tried and tried and tried to breast feed my first born. My milk was not adequate enough. I had no control over that. My body just didn’t produce healthy amount of milk. If it was the “law” to breast feed I guess I’d have to be tossed into jail because my body won’t do what I want/need it to do?
Give me a break!
I know it’s much healthier for a baby to have breast milk but if you are unable to produce it there is nothing you can do. Both of my kids had to use formula and both of them are perfectly happy and healthy children. Being fed formula had no damaging effect on them whatsoever.
Can’t expect her to be articulate I guess. It’s to bad she couldn’t use her fame to promote breastfeeding in a positive way, that would have done a lot more good than what she said.
I breastfed all 3 kids, 1st one 9 mos, 2nd only 8 weeks and 3rd born for 11 months. Yet you will find me completely disagreeing that it should be LAW for a mother to breastfeed her child. Really? What bugs me most about any “law” ideas are that when it comes to parenting I sure has heck don’t want the government enforcing crap – it’s our life, our children and our family – let US live it the way we want to. So I say NO WAY should there EVER be a law enforcing all mothers to breastfeed for 6 months & I am a mom who enjoyed breastfeeding (BY CHOICE – not law) LOL
Not to mention there are a lot of people who can not breastfeed, for medical reasons or baby not latching on or taking to the breast. I mean come on people! I think we have more important things going on then try to get a law telling parents what they have to do with their own kids. Ok I am done … sensitive subject, sick of people thinking laws should tell us how to raise our own children! LOL
What do you expect, she’s from Brazil, a socialist country!!! No surprise there why she’d have this line of thinking.
I think most people will agree with me that breast feeding is the absolute best for babies, HOWEVER, this is a personal decision for a mother. What is she isn’t able to breast feed? I bet that skinny no-butt twit never thought about that.
This woman needs to stick to modeling!!! PERIOD!
Absolutely not. If that were to become a law-what would be start telling us what religions we should practice too? That is so retarded. Mothers should do what they feel is best for their child. I mean regular every day moms today have so much on their plates. It is easy for her to preach, when I’m guessing she has maids, and nannys, and other people to help her 24-7. Just so she has the time to come up with perfectly idiotic statements such as that.
No, how are the titty police going to enforce it anyways. Stupid comment.
How would they enforce that? LOL Go through everyone’s house and ticket anyone who would dare have a bottle lying around?? Too stupid.
People like this woman really irritate me…
This all comes down to choices we have and rights we hold as mothers. I did not breastfeed, but it is because after weeks of trying my daughter still would not take the breast. If it was up to her would they have taken her away from me…put me in jail, then put my baby in a foster home where they would FORMULA feed her?
The fact that I did not breastfeed is not the part that bothers me, the part that bothers me is the fact that she is pointing at us–as Americans.
I guess she just uses us for the modelling job, the millions a year, the publicity, and then gets to go home to wherever she came from.
The United States is a place of freedom, choices. Our country is most definitely not perfect, we have made mistakes as a whole. But for somebody to come into our country and spurt out unrehearsed press releases about things we should change is absolutely degrading and ridiculous. Trisha, rude is the PERFECT word. Ignorant as well.
Come to our country and bitch about our president–fine.
Come to our country and make millions a year and use our people for fame and publicity–whatever, it is your life.
Come to our country and “accidentally” bash the mothers of the teen girls who fawn over you because they didn’t breast feed? Hell no. I guess those children who look up to you are STUPID because they were breast fed. Makes perfect sense to me!
Meant “formula fed” at the end there…:)
I definitely don’t think breastfeeding should be law but I do think that hospitals should have a mandatory breastfeeding education session with new mothers and formula should be regulated more strictly.
I agree with this, in the hospital where my daughter was born they gave her formula before I could try breast feeding for the first time.
I still think somewhat that is why she never took to it.
HA! If my doctor had asked me more than once if I wanted to breastfeed I would have punched her. That’s called harassment. I said no the first time, don’t try to force me into even trying it!
A law huh? Maybe they should make laws about people being stupid or judging other people based on facts they don’t know or understand. I tried to breastfeed each of my children and despite pills, lots of liquid and the right foods my milk just ran out at 3 months-each time. What am I supposed to do then–let my child starve or go up to random women asking them to stick a boob in my kid’s mouth? Genius statement. Pure genius. For an idiot.
I am extremely supportive of breastfeeding, but no. No law requiring anything of women. Statements such as that, even if she’d said women should be required to TRY, fail to take into account women who have no support system, were sexually abused, etc. It takes choices away from women. I like to have my babies at home and I’d certainly be pissed off if someone took away my right to do so, and I don’t want another mom’s choices to be taken away either.
I DO think there should be a law requiring hospitals, doctors, companies, and any other applicable entity to support women in their breastfeeding. Doctors should be required to take classes, formula companies shouldn’t mislead or bribe, restaurants shouldn’t kick women out, working women should be allowed to pump. And there are some laws like this, but not enough in my opinion, and some regulations (like the WHO Code) are not followed 100%. If we improved this side of things, there would probably be no need to think of forcing women to nurse.
NO IT SHOULD NOT, in fact I’m sick and tired of hearing people try to force it onto others. If that’s what you do, then so be it. Not everyone WANTS to breastfeed and no one is REQUIRED to. If we were MEANT to breastfeed than every mother would have no problem with doing so and every mother would do so.
I didn’t want to, wouldn’t want to, and won’t breastfeed.
I second Tina…my tried for a month…pump…formula…pump…formula…by the time was so done pumping an ounce of milk it was time to bottle feed…my milk never came in!
Mine would not latch good with the getting-NOTHING problem….so I pumped like heck all the time to get it going…I’d get MAYBE a half oz TOTAL…BOTH SIDES…frustrating as all get out!
Good PR Giselle…I mean really, never mind women who can’t breast feed for one reason or another or who just simply don’t want too. Yes breast feeding is the healthiest way, but its not for everyone. I breast fed my children but would in no way push it down someones throat or MAKE IT A LAW! That is absurd.. I am sure the chemicals she has maids use to clean her house are far worse for her child then the formula. I suppose she thinks we should have organic gardens and make our own baby food too..in between working, cleaning, taking children to doctors appts, etc. Welcome to middle class reality Giselle..we don’t have “people” to do the mundane things for us…
Uhhh…HELL NO!! I think this is a woman’s personal decision first of all, and second as previously mentioned some try and find they can’t! STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!
As much as I want to say that every mom be required to at least give it a try, I know that there are always situations where this would not be the best route. I think it’s best to promote awareness and provide support. Everyone knows that breastfeeding is the best for babies but there are situations where it’s not always best for the mamas. A mom’s well-being and mental health are essential to a happy and healthy baby! Give a mom the facts about breastfeeding and support their efforts but forcing a mom to nurse could lead to resentment towards their baby. This leads to a whole new mess of problems including pontential abuse or neglect.
I’m not in the states, but I don’t think it should be law. Yes, it’s best, but some mothers can’t produce or run into other problems. What is going to happen then? Jail? I think it’s ridiculous. We’re all trying to do what’s best for our children and sometimes breast isn’t best for the mother or child. (for the record, I did breastfeed.)
IDIOT, NO!! I tried….could not, never got milk, either child.