It’s not absurd when you consider that millions of young, impressionable women watch the show and take what they say very seriously – as if it’s “the way of the world” – many young girls form their opinions based off of what they see on TV (this is why there’s so much outrage over Desperate Housewives, Nip/Tuck, etc etc. and on and on-- not me personally, but there are several threads on it) – young impressionable minds do take what’s on television seriously and make decisions based on it – right or wrong, it’s happening every day around us.
The US has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. It’s no secret that this country is one of the (if not the) unhealthiest countries in the world when you look at lifestyle choices – in many areas. Obesity alone is staggering. The WHO is desperate to up the numbers (not that I’m a big WHO fan…) of breastfeeding mothers, the APA is promoting at least a year of nursing…and here comes Barbara Walters telling young mothers (their target audience, btw) that it’s “gross and disgusting” to do it anywhere people might see you. How does that help? In what possible way can that “empower” a young mother – after all, that is the theme of the show, empowering women and educating, right? By women, for women. But their baseline audience is being “grossly” mislead by someone who postures herself to be on their side. No, it’s not as gross as schools handing out pornography and asking you to pay for it, no it’s not the worst evil out there, it’s just a sad commentary on the mass media and it’s influences in the world.
