Friday
Nov212008
Irony and History
Friday, November 21, 2008
My jaw dropped...and then I burst out laughing.
On Tuesday evening, on my way to my basketball game (part of the way I strive for balance), I was listening to CBC's As It Happens 40th Anniversary show on the radio. They were interviewing producers and staff from the show's past to talk about some of the interesting moments and developments in the show's history.
Susan Mahoney was being interviewed and she was talking about her first days with As it Happens. Before she started on the show, communications were pretty much one way. As it Happens broadcast its show and people listened. But Susan was instrumental in starting Talk Back, a phone line where users could call in with comments on what they heard on the show and a selection of these comments were then played on the show. Think blog post comments, but from the olden days!
To demonstrate the impact that Talk Back had, Susan described the reaction to a story they ran. Paraphrasing Susan:
I found this ironic and interesting in so many ways.
First, let me say that I don't think any mother should be discriminated against based on how she chooses to feed her child, but usually when we do hear about discrimination against mothers feeding their babies, it is breastfeeding discrimination. This is the first case I had heard of where bottle feeding was discriminated against (I've since heard of a few others, but they are certainly rare).
Second, we were reminded of the power of mobilizing people when moms are wronged with the whole Motrin babywearing issue last weekend, but this is not something new. Even before the Internet existed, people did mobilize sometimes when discrimination took place and were able to bring about important changes. We need to continue to use this power, but I do also think that gentle methods should often be used first, giving people an opportunity to right their wrongs before hanging them out to dry.
Third, I find it hard to imagine a bottle feeding mom being discriminated against today and hope that breastfeeding moms will soon be in that situation too. As I've said before, I think all of the media coverage and other attention to breastfeeding discrimination is a sign of progress. I hope that breastfeeding discrimination will one day be a thing of the past and a mom listening to a story about breastfeeding discrimination on the 60th anniversary of As it Happens will be able to burst out laughing at the ridiculousness and irony of the situation the way I did when I heard Susan Mahoney talking about the situation above. Actually, let's hope we'll be able to burst out laughing at the thought of any type of discrimination because it just seems so ridiculous.
On Tuesday evening, on my way to my basketball game (part of the way I strive for balance), I was listening to CBC's As It Happens 40th Anniversary show on the radio. They were interviewing producers and staff from the show's past to talk about some of the interesting moments and developments in the show's history.
Susan Mahoney was being interviewed and she was talking about her first days with As it Happens. Before she started on the show, communications were pretty much one way. As it Happens broadcast its show and people listened. But Susan was instrumental in starting Talk Back, a phone line where users could call in with comments on what they heard on the show and a selection of these comments were then played on the show. Think blog post comments, but from the olden days!
To demonstrate the impact that Talk Back had, Susan described the reaction to a story they ran. Paraphrasing Susan:
The one story that proved to producers that it could really have an impact was the story of a lady who was bottle feeding her baby on the bus. There was a by-law in Ottawa that you couldn’t eat food on a bus. A woman was bottle feeding her baby and got kicked off the bus. Talk Back went crazy and a few days later Ottawa City Hall changed the by-law. It gave an opportunity for As it Happens to keep following the story and contribute to public policy.
I found this ironic and interesting in so many ways.
First, let me say that I don't think any mother should be discriminated against based on how she chooses to feed her child, but usually when we do hear about discrimination against mothers feeding their babies, it is breastfeeding discrimination. This is the first case I had heard of where bottle feeding was discriminated against (I've since heard of a few others, but they are certainly rare).
Second, we were reminded of the power of mobilizing people when moms are wronged with the whole Motrin babywearing issue last weekend, but this is not something new. Even before the Internet existed, people did mobilize sometimes when discrimination took place and were able to bring about important changes. We need to continue to use this power, but I do also think that gentle methods should often be used first, giving people an opportunity to right their wrongs before hanging them out to dry.
Third, I find it hard to imagine a bottle feeding mom being discriminated against today and hope that breastfeeding moms will soon be in that situation too. As I've said before, I think all of the media coverage and other attention to breastfeeding discrimination is a sign of progress. I hope that breastfeeding discrimination will one day be a thing of the past and a mom listening to a story about breastfeeding discrimination on the 60th anniversary of As it Happens will be able to burst out laughing at the ridiculousness and irony of the situation the way I did when I heard Susan Mahoney talking about the situation above. Actually, let's hope we'll be able to burst out laughing at the thought of any type of discrimination because it just seems so ridiculous.
Reader Comments (6)
Boring post. Next?
Last weekend scores of people, many of them mothers, expressed their displeasure with the Motrin babywearing ad. Using the power of Twitter, a microblogging social media tool, they mobilized in defense of this method of caring for and transporting babies that has been used since the dawn of time. They got an apology and the add was removed within 48 hours.
The story from 40 years ago of a mother being thrown off the bus for bottle feeding her baby is indeed ironic. I wonder would she have been given the same treatment if she had been breastfeeding discreetly?
The issue centered around social decorum and eating in public vehicles; it ultimately required a change in statutes to allow mothers to feed their babies on the bus.
This piece brings to mind the fact that many people still feel that breastfeeding should not be done in public establishments. They believe that mothers should go to the restroom to feed their babies. Would you eat in the bathroom?
Just like they did in Ottawa 40 years ago and again last weekend with Motrin, the groundswell of public debate can cause changes to made. Now the rights of mothers to breastfeed in any public place are protected in most places, save perhaps on some airplanes, here in North America.
The real irony is that in 1968, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were concerned with much more pressing issues of discrimination. It wasn't about eating on a bus, but the mere right to sit inside that was at stake.
As they say, we have come a long way. With the election of President Obama and laws protecting a mother's right to breastfeed in public.
Perhaps that is why someone found this piece boring. They have no real memories of discrimination of any kind.
Thank you @ Máire for your comments. I don't think it was exactly 40 years ago that the incident happened (the show As It Happens is 40 years old, but I think Talk Back was introduced later). In any case, regardless of the exact time frame, the point that you made and that I was making still stands.
Personally, I have not faced much discrimination in life. But people around me have faced plenty of it and I have enough empathy and sense of community to care when others are discriminated against and to not find it boring. Instead, I see it as a call to action, to talk about and to do something to change it.
I had mixed feelings over the election in the US. I was so thrilled to see a black man elected President, demonstrating that many racial barriers have been overcome. But on the same historic day, several US states passed legislation that restricted the rights of gay people. Discrimination is still alive and we need to continue talking and fighting for change.
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I don't have mixed feelings over our last presidental election. A black man was elected to our highest position of power in government. It took a long time. It was (is) awesome. I cried when he was elected, and I still get choked up thinking of that moment. I'm proud for my children to have that experience so early in their childhood, and only hope for continued equality. I trust a woman will be elected soon.
I don't have mixed feelings about the current state of discrimination in this country either. It was and is awful. Racism, sexism, and homophobia are still rampant. It is outrageous that a person's sexual orientation even comes into play in terms of who who someone loves or the job they want to do (i.e. military). It makes me sick to think that there are still people in my country who not only can't understand that people. are. people. (period, full stop) but want to actively segregate and shame and hurt based on skin color or sexual orientation. There's no mixed feelings here - it sucks it's disgusting it's confusing, and I trust that through voting correctly, along with teaching my children that everyone - everyone - is deserving of compassion, empathy, and love, no matter what they look like or who they love, things will change.
I'm sorry for playing on your words Annie. Obviously I agree with your message: Discrimination is still alive and we need to continue talking and fighting for change.
Rude comment. Next?