Breastfeeding isn’t just for women anymore, says a British National Health Services (NHS) trust in a leaked letter reported by The Telegraph. Men who identify as women can now take off-label drugs to produce breast secretions that are “comparable to that produced [by a woman] following the birth of a baby,” according to the trust. This statement comes just months before the ninth edition of breastfeeding nonprofit La Leche League’s landmark book, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, is set to release. Except this time, it’s only titled The Art of Breastfeeding. Just forget the word “womanly” was ever included.
While La Leche League is no stranger to pandering to those who would rather call it “chestfeeding” and pretend that men can breastfeed too, the NHS statement is a further confirmation that we have collectively forgotten what it means to breastfeed a child and why it has always been an integral part of early motherhood. This memory slippage began with the advent of commercial baby formulas in the early 20th century, which were marketed as doctor-recommended and a good solution for women who were “reluctant” to nurse their babies. With free formula samples given to women after birth by pediatricians who lacked the practical knowledge of lactation, nearly 70 percent of babies in the 1960s and 1970s were fed formula rather than breastmilk. Breastfeeding wasn’t even necessary anymore, isn’t that wonderful?
It was the brain-building and healthier option, companies claimed, as they pushed their product on women in Third World countries
