More about Sophie Currier’s win
I was totally creeped out when I read Neil Steinberg’s piece about Currier’s win in the Chicago Sun-Times. While I assume his point is that bodily functions performed in public isn’t a victory, the line “…and the lady next to me wordlessly flops out a swollen breast and begins firing hot streams of foamy milk into the yearning, baby-sparrow mouth of her tot, or toddler, or 5-year-old child,” stopped me and I had trouble reading further. I managed, mouth wide open, to skim the rest of his column, but I was so disturbed by the image of something I’ve found to be so sweet and beautiful that I couldn’t figure out what King Lear had to do with it all. Then I realized it had nothing to do with it. I failed to notice the topic change.
Dahlia Lithwick at Slate seemed to be creeped out by Steinberg’s column as well, even quoting the same line that made me lose all ability to comprehend the written word. She wrote a lengthy piece wondering about the silence surrounding Currier’s victory, specifically wondering why more feminists aren’t excited.
The Mike and Juliet show also explored the case with tons of video of Currier setting up her pump. She wasn’t able to join them in the studio, but her lawyer, a lawyer from the National Medical Examiner’s Board and a OB/GYN all weigh in.
The Lactivist finally shares her opinion about the case. “The medical board…the people who are supposed to value and promote breastfeeding…were telling a mom she should just wean her daughter so she could pass the boards and become a doctor.”
Sonia, a commenter here, wrote, “To me, this isn’t about nursing, it’s about trying to game the system to get the best advantage to yourself. Seriously, why else would she schedule her final exam when she knows she’s going to be breastfeeding? She totally could’ve done her exams later, and considering she’s failed the exam once already, it might’ve been better for her to schedule the exam for later when she’s not sleep-deprived or engorged. She’s making the rest of us nursing moms look bad and I’m really pissed about it.”
And Katharine, another commenter wrote, “Hurray for Sophie! This sets a precedent for all nursing women, one that is long overdue.”
Sophie Currier, breastfeeding, expressing milk, extra time granted, victory
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October 2nd, 2007 at 6:16 am
I believe that the resounding silence about Currier’s case by many feminists and bloggers centers on the fact that most people who don’t have ADHD or dyslexia (or who don’t live with anyone who has one or both) don’t at all comprehend these neurologic disorders. Lots of people appear to think that having these disorders cancels a person’s intelligence and occupational capability, and that is extremely far from the truth. As a medical copyeditor, I joined a forum for medical students who were discussing Currier, and geez, were they ever nasty. And these future physicians seemed to have little understanding of what it’s really like to have ADHD. Those who don’t understand need to read this: http://editor-mom.blogspot.com/2005/05/house-of-adhd.html
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:45 pm
It’s true — most of us bloggers and students and mothers don’t need other people continuously carrying us, taking class notes for us, reading us our textbooks and bending over backwards to accommodate (not ‘accomodate’ as spelled on Ms. Currier’s own blog) us and our intellectual shortcomings well into a Ph.D. We’re called “capable.” We’re called “able to do Ph.D.-level work without people holding our hands.” Ms. Currier is not one of us.