Sauve says babies make breasts flat

[JulieL]

Holy Cow, I haven't been this mad in a while. I woke up this morning to a "wonderful" commercial implying that breast feeding makes your boobs flat, but Suave can pump up your hair. I am FURIOUS. I, am one who did loose breast tissue significantly after my pregnancies, but am THRILLED I bfed both children, and went up to 13 months with my daughter. I was awed when a close friend of my BFed until well over two. I am so proud that I helped my babies have the milk was intended for them, because I could. Many moms can't bf, many moms choose to not BF, and that is fine and this is post is in no way to make those moms feel bad. I understand why some moms choose formula, and have no bad feelings for them. I am just dismayed, at our already over sexualized world, that women who are thinking of BFing will probably be taken back by this ad, and sadly may choose not to BF souling on the idea that they "might" have deflated breasts. And we already know that pregnancy, not BFing alone, changes breasts. Not to mention many women who BF don't have any breast changes at all. That was not my case, but I sure the heck am not going to talk down about BFing, or "warn " other women to "watch out". I am proud that I BFed. And, I am NEVER buying Sauve products again.

http://thelactivist.blogspot.com/2007/04/suave-under-fire-for-breastfeeding.html

I was surprised to see some moms calling this a cute add. I think it's great if you have such a strong sense of self image, but sadly most women are told to think about their bodies so much that we can't let our image go even daily, because of the media pushing so called perfect body images in our face every day. Sauve could have talked about breastfeeding in a positive light, instead they did not, and it makes me sad.


What do you think?

I haven't been on here for a while so I'm not sure if this should belong in the Bitching area, but thought others might miss it if it went there. Feel free to move. And I don't know if this has been covered yet or not - so sorry if this is a double post.

[JulieL]

it's called from From Flat To Fabulous. You can find the link from http://www.suave.com/ but it's weird you have to click on the front page a few different times before it will bring up the pop up that show women, then settles to a page that you can click t.v. adds

it's the add From Flat To Fabulous - already that says something negative,

And once again, can adds talk about something other than womens breasts?

[JTsMom]

This commercial has actually been around for a while, and we thoroughly dissected it over at mdc if you want to check out some of those debates.

I'm a big proponent of bf'ing- I'm still bf'ing my 2.5 year old actually, and believe me when I say I see where you're coming from. But... the commercial doesn't say breastfeeding makes your breasts flat, it says having a baby makes them flat, which is what a lot of people claim. If having a baby is going to do it anyway, why not bf?

On the plus side, at least it shows bf'ing, and the more society is exposed to it, the more it will become the norm imo.

I do see the other side of it too though- if you didn't analyze the heck out of the commercial, you might see the nursing baby and think they were saying bf makes your breasts flat.

In any case, it really saddens me that someone would care more about what their breasts look like, than the health of their child (and themselves for that matter). There are definitely some people in that camp, but I hope there aren't too many of them! Something definitely affected my boobs- I can't say if it was the pregnancy or the bf, but in either case, it was well worth it!

I think the things we could do to increase breastfeeding rates the most would be to educate women, make sure they get the support they need- especially in the early days, and to normalize bf. Whether this commercial is doing that, or working against it is hard to say imo.

[hillview]

I am pro bf and BF 2 kids. I watched the spot online and didn't think it was anti BF per se. It seemed more like what my life is like ;)
/hillary

[JoyNChrist]

I'm pro breastfeeding, and still nursing my 10 month old, but I will say this - I do think I was kind of led to believe (from LLL and the lactation consultant) that breastfeeding wouldn't change my breasts at all. And that's not the case. They're definitely smaller (didn't even know that could happen, since they were so little to begin with, lol) and deflated-looking. And I don't think it's just pregnancy. I know many women who've had babies and formula fed, and their breasts seemed to bounce back a lot better than they did for the moms who breastfed.

It's worth it, of course. And I'll breastfed all the rest of my babies, God willing. But I do wish someone would have told me that it could happen. Lactivists always point out the cons of formula, but they never really seem to mention the cons of breastfeeding. I think they're worth it, but they are real and I feel like it's important to be honest in any situation.

Obviously, that's not really the point of this ad, but I did want to speak up as a pro-breastfeeding mama who would have liked a warning that I might lose the "girls".

[lisams]

For some reason I seem to remember it differently, maybe it's a different one? The one I remember showed a mom nursing her baby, and it says something about how having a baby can make you flat? I just remember thinking it was so cool that it seemed so natural that being a mom = a high likelyhood that you're breastfeeding. That's the way I saw it (kind of like how the "symbol" of motherhood/babyhood used to be a bottle?)

ETA OK I was able to find it on their website and it is the same one. It says something like "62% of women say having a baby makes their hair and breasts flat." It says nothing about breastfeeding. It shows the mom nursing and burping her young baby, which to me is basically symbolic of motherhood, seeing as it's pretty much what you do the first few months, lol! I actually really like it (and I'm a lactivist - like the kind that was down at the capitol getting laws made and in meetings with stuffy politicians who turn red when you say "breast"!) I think it's really awesome. Just another perspective!

[mamicka]

I'm pro breastfeeding, and still nursing my 10 month old, but I will say this - I do think I was kind of led to believe (from LLL and the lactation consultant) that breastfeeding wouldn't change my breasts at all. And that's not the case. They're definitely smaller (didn't even know that could happen, since they were so little to begin with, lol) and deflated-looking. And I don't think it's just pregnancy. I know many women who've had babies and formula fed, and their breasts seemed to bounce back a lot better than they did for the moms who breastfed.

It's worth it, of course. And I'll breastfed all the rest of my babies, God willing. But I do wish someone would have told me that it could happen. Lactivists always point out the cons of formula, but they never really seem to mention the cons of breastfeeding. I think they're worth it, but they are real and I feel like it's important to be honest in any situation.

Obviously, that's not really the point of this ad, but I did want to speak up as a pro-breastfeeding mama who would have liked a warning that I might lose the "girls".

Stacy - I think its a bit of a stretch to say that breast "deflation" is a proven phenomenon after breastfeeding & should therefore be disclosed to people before breastfeeding. In my circle, there isn't any difference in the breast changes between BF moms & formula-feeding moms. In your circle, could it be that BF moms are much more focused on what their boobs look like since they are "handling" them multiple times on a daily basis? the "deflation" is more noticeable because they got so full while BF, making the deflation seem so much more drastic?

As far as cons to breastfeeding, besides it being quite difficult at the start & much more dependent on the mom, I'm not sure there are any.

[gatorsmom]

I don't think it's bfing OR the pregnancy that cause the deflation. I think it's the fluctuation in weight. I think that ANYONE who has gained weight and then lost it is going to get some flabbiness. I noticed more flabbiness in my "girls" when I lost weight after college than after I breast fed my first 2 kids. I also gained and lost more weight then. Kind of like a balloon that has been inflated and then deflated. It's definitely not the same as at first.

That's just my scientific hypothesis ;).

[elizabethkott]

Huh. I BF'd for 9 months, and when DS self-weaned, the girls went back to their original size. DH was like "Oh, they're like shrinkie-dinks." (Thank you, sensitive man...)
They're the exact same size as they were before my pregnancy. I think every woman's body reacts differently, the same as with pregnancy. Some of us gain a lot, some of us expand in different directions, some of us have magical shrinking boobies. :) I think it all depends on the individual's unique experience.
As for the ad, I remember seeing it, and thinking how great it was to actually be showing a woman with a baby at her breast. And then wondering if *I* actually looked that disheveled during the first few months after DS was born. And then I looked in the mirror, and realized that I *STILL* look that disheveled. :hysterical:
So speaking for myself, I was not offended by that ad.