Breast Phobia

Perhaps you've heard the recent news reports regarding the magazine for young mothers called Babytalk, a free educational magazine for new moms. A recent cover photo of the publication featured the head of a baby next to a naked breast. Although I have never seen the magazine, I would assume based upon the title, that the cover was meant to promote breastfeeding. It appears that the mother of a 13-yr old was upset by the cover, particularly troubled it seems that her son saw a breast! More than one quarter of the publications 4000 readers, when polled, also indicated that they did not approve of the cover, calling it inappropriate. Imagine the shock and 'utter' horror these individuals might suffer should they spend any amount of time in the country of Italy. Topless sunbathing is a normal practice - so much so that when a family goes to the beach together you'll often find daughters and moms sunning their bosom 'alla famiglia'! Our family recalls fondly a series of billboards that were displayed for a period of time throughout the north of Italy in an effort to promote breastfeeding among young Italian mothers. Whereas Italians don't in general have a problem with seeing breasts in a positive way as sexual, the younger women, for the most part, choose not to breastfeed. In an effort to promote the health benefits of breastfeeding, giant billboards were created which included not a baby next to a breast, but instead a giant breast! The first one we encountered personally nearly caused my husband to swerve off the road as it was on a rather sharp angular street corner. My two sons, having grown up in the country and spending lots of time on the beach, were not surprised at all - nor were most of the citizens of the country. Although I don't believe it increased the odds at all of young Italian mothers breastfeeding, it certainly was an enjoyable experience and no one wrote any letters to anyone expressing any type of trauma. Perhaps another article I came across today on a baby blog illustrates best the point of Americans and the general trauma that seems to exist in this country, with people of all ages on anti-depressants or anti-anxiety drug - the problem is that they were not breastfed! Read and enjoy the irony along with me:
http://health.msn.com/pregnancykids/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100142172&GT1=8404

Drug-Free and Breastfed,

Mary Margaret

Ciao Tutti!

Sono americana,ma per più di un decennio ho vissuto e lavorato in Italia, in Veneto. I miei antenati e alcuni dei miei parenti arrivano da Brescia e dalla Val Camonica. Adesso vivo in Ohio e lavoro in una biblioteca.

Sin dal nostro ritorno in U.S., più di sei anni fa, mi sono impegnata molto nel mantenere il mio italiano - non un'impresa facile,considerando che l'Ohio fu in primis colonizzato da persone di lingua tedesca. Lavorando in biblioteca, cerco sempre di cogliere ogni opportunità per diffondere il mio amore per la cultura e la lingua italiana tra gli americani,che parlano solamente l'inglese,e incoraggiandoli ad imparare una seconda lingua - l'italiano ovviamente!
ho deciso di scrivere questo blog per condividere i miei progressi.

I am an American from the United States, but for more than ten years I lived and worked in the country of Italy in the Veneto region. I have relatives who are Italian and they live in the city of Brescia and in the Val Camonica. Now I live here in the state of Ohio and I am working in a public library.

Since our return to the U.S. more than six years ago now, I have worked very hard at maintaining my Italian language skills - not an easy task when one considers that the area of Ohio we chose to settle in was primarily settled by German-speaking people. I am also taking every opportunity in connection with my work in a public library to spread my love for the Italian language and culture by encouraging monolingual US citizens to take up the challenge of the global economy and learn another language - specifically Italian, of course. I am writing this blog to chronicle the progress of this endeavor.

Benvenuti!

PAX E BON VIN

Maria Margherita