But the women in the rural village where Penny worked were upset to learn that Penny was thinking of weaning her daughter at 16 months. They thought Penny was pregnant again because no one among the rural women would wean their child from their breasts unless they were pregnant. And when Penny took her 15-month old child Chandra to the paediatrician when the child had diarrhoea, the paediatrician told her that breast milk caused the diarrhoea and he gave Penny free samples of the infant milk Lactogen. Reflecting now on her experience with the paediatrician, Penny admits getting really angry towards such partiality for infant formula. However, after studying the issue, Penny now understands the processes that brought about the preference for processed cow's milk.
Many feminists are lukewarm to breastfeeding.
Some feminists say that reinforces women's traditional roles as caregivers and nurturers. She adds that breastfeeding challenges media's image of women as consumers and as sex objects with firm breasts. I'd like women to fully understand the health benefits of breastfeeding for them and not just for their babies. I'd like them to re-value motherhood without romanticising it. I think breastfeeding requires us to rethink the relation between women's productive and reproductive roles.