Actress Bette Midler is of an age where maybe she forgets what it was like to be a young parent, trying to feed her child. After all, her only child is 35 years old now. Still, that’s no excuse for the insensitive Tweet she recently made about the baby formula shortage that has many young parents in a panic.
This is Bette Midler’s solution to the problem: “TRY BREASTFEEDING! It’s free and available on demand.”
All caps and everything! Midler may not have expected the response she would receive for her insensitive words.
Mother Jones editor-in-chief Clara Jeffery tweeted, “Extremely, profoundly even, disappointed that you’re taking this line. Yes, the monopolies are real and @Nestle in particular has had evil practices. But that doesn’t mean that breast-only (or even at all) is doable for many many women.”
Another person had this to say: “Because many, many women struggle to breastfeed. It’s just not an option for them and they need formula. It’s extremely naïve for a celebrity to think us peons live their lifestyle.”
Bette Midler obviously couldn’t take the ridicule anymore, and followed her first Tweet with this: “People are piling on because of former tweet. No shame if you can’t breastfeed, but if you can & are somehow convinced that your own milk isn’t as good as a “scientifically researched product”, that’s something else again. The monopoly news is news to me, tho, no lie. #WETNURSES
It’s not clear why Bette Midler thought it would be a good idea to add #wetnurses. That didn’t go over well either, for obvious reasons. One person Tweeted, “So where are the #wetnurses coming from? Are we mandating people accessing welfare donate so much breast milk a month to get benefits, or are we jumping straight back to slavery by requiring all prisoners who give birth be required to maintain lactation once the child is removed?”
This is a crisis in our country, one that the Biden administration ignored and now new parents are rightfully panicking. It seems odd and out of place for a 76 year old Hollywood actress to even give an opinion on this, much less the one she did. Do you think Midler should just shut up?
