Kristof is going to breastfeed African children

Nicholas Kristof and Wal-Mart in one week you guys, is it Christmas? His column for the New York Times was entitled, “A Free Miracle Food!.” Anyone want to guess where this is going? Right, to the patriarchy.

Kristof decided he too needed to get into the newborn mother shaming, because breast milk can save hundreds of thousands according to global health experts. Let me begin by saying, I’m not opposed to breastfeeding, it is beneficial to mother and child, but this shaming people do of mothers who opt not to either because they can’t (and some women can’t) or because it is their choice needs to stop. Of course, my experience with breastfeeding is rooted in the West, which is convenient because Kristof exports Western ideology to liberate women (mostly women of color) internationally.

As usual, Kristof shares a personal story about how he witnessed something; this time breastfeeding saving a life in West Africa. Kristof was in Africa on his annual win-a-trip journey where he takes a university student with him on a poverty tour (my language, but I can’t…just no).

He and his poverty tourist stopped in a village near Mopti, Mali to inquire about food shortages. They see an infant, three weeks old, starving to death. The infant appeared to be suffering from signs of malnutrition. Kristof, it should be noted, begins his piece by discussing the child, and not the teenage mother because of course the emphasis would be on the child and not the mother (because women, amiright?). The mother said she knew the child was suffering, but she wasn’t producing enough milk, and that she had invested in cow’s milk to save him. Kristof and tourist offer the mother and infant a ride to the hospital where the baby can be diagnosed by a physician. The doctor said the mother didn’t know how to breastfeed properly, and that this is a common problem.

Here Kristof launches into world hunger facts relating to children specifically. But don’t worry, he does make note that there is something uncomfortable about a Western, white, man shaming poor, African women for not breastfeeding, “Look, I realize that there’s something patronizing about a man griping about poor breast-feeding practices, and, in the West, the issue is linked to maternity leaved and other work practices. But if we want to save hundreds of thousands of lives, maybe a step forward is to offer more support to moms in poor countries trying to nurse their babies.”

Oh, thank the patriarchy, I thought he was going to mansplain without knowing it. It is so much better because he knows he is…wait, that doesn’t seem right. We could also offer money or food. I also love Kristof’s savior complex has evolved into saving babies by tying the mothers to the infants physical proximity. Because only in the West do women have to juggle work outside the home with childcare.

Kristof then points out why women aren’t breastfeeding, “In some parts of the world, a problem has been predatory marketing by formula manufacturers, but, in the poorest countries, the main concern is that moms delay breast-feeding for a day or two after birth and then give the babies water or food in the first six months.”

See, these mothers don’t know what to do. They need a Western white man to tell them how to raise children. I’m so glad Kristof can show tell them. Kristof continues to shame these women about how they don’t know any better with midwives suggesting water is good for an infant, which might be from unsanitary sources, when everyone in the West knows all infants need is milk. Kristof then provides a few breastfeeding stats: less than 25% in Mali, 8% in Niger, and 2% in Chad. Kristof notes that only 16% of US infants are breastfeed, but it is ok because the baby’s life isn’t “hang[ing] in the balance.”

 What Kristof doesn’t provide are female labor stats for these countries: 47.5% in Mali, 42% in Niger, and 46.9% in Chad. I just thought this might relevant since women in the West get a pass with our stats: 47% in US, 64.1% in France (remember their state childcare system), and 70% in England.* Now, the West does have a higher rate of employment for women except the US, which is lower than Mali where the women are expected to breastfeed and the US gets the pass. I’d still argue that African women are working in large numbers as well.

Then Kristof parades out some hypotheses that might be valid about breastfeeding raising IQs (I didn’t look up the “Several studies” he references). He also notes, “While many moms think they don’t produce enough milk, nutritionists say that that’s rare. Even when moms are malnourished, the baby’s frantic suckling will stimulate more milk.”

Pause, that’s what this article was supposed to be about, the food shortage in Mali. But don’t worry breastfeeding only burns 380 to 900 calories per day (the weight loss secret for many new moms), so I’m sure a malnourished woman will be fine, just fine, well, does it matter as long as the infant is fine. Then again you should probably keep the milk machine in working order, right. This drives me nuts because the same fucking argument is being used against women right now to strip us of reproductive rights. Women, now less worth less than men, infants, and fetuses. The food shortage began because of a rebellion that has grown into a war forcing incoming food to travel further over taking more time. The international community trying to help is running out of money to disperse food (again, maybe send money instead of Western parenting techniques?). It is also not exclusively in Mali; it has spread to most of the region.

Kristof advocates national breastfeeding programs to increase rates. As I mentioned before I’m not opposed, but I will say this I know two women who didn’t feel comfortable breastfeeding because their infants were losing weight instead of putting it on in the initial days of life. They felt ashamed and like bad mothers because of the hospitals’ emphasis on breastfeeding. I can only imagine their feelings if it was a full on nationwide program.

He concludes with this, “There are many ways to save lives, some involving dazzling technologies. But maybe in our sophistication we’ve overlooked a way to ease childhood malnutrition that is sustainable, scalable, free—and so straightforward that all hungry newborns cry for it.”

I’m not the only one pissed about this. An excellent post about this is up here.  Juliacarriewong does a wonderful job of laying out how not free breastfeeding is. Kristof’s assertion is that women are worth less than men, our time, our energy, our bodies are free. Oh, when it is phrased that way everybody gets uncomfortable. Yes, Kristof is advocating a being other than the woman herself has a right to her body. What does that sound like? Patriarchy, rape culture, awfulness. Kristof’s assertion is rooted in believing that women’s domestic work isn’t actually work, but it is, and it is valuable. So Kristof and his patriarchy can take a walk, and hopefully not come across any more women of color while he’s at it. 

*Note: this data isn’t uniform coming from different years, but I didn't want to waste a lot of time getting the data when Kristof couldn't be bothered to check his argument at all.