Media Body Shaming and Witch-hunt.(TERF Reich 20)
In a new low-point for the British media last week the usual suspects caused a week-long witch hunt for someone whose only crime seems to be -drawing attention to high utility bills and being trans. That is how it started but it quickly escalated because the person in question, –Mika Minio-Paluello was also the mother who had breastfed her baby in the same way any mother can. The only difference being that Mika is a trans woman.
Historical misogyny-
Women’s bodies are often a battle ground on which moral judgments are passed at the best of times. Discussions about public breastfeeding are common and the overarching narrative is one of shaming. The added aspect of a “trans” dimension to the story seems to have given an already transphobic press carte blanche to embolden the views of the worst people among us.
This story ignores real science and dehumanises trans people, yet again. It becomes, not a story about health or wellbeing but a vicious attack on a single individual who has little power to fight back. The actual medical aspect of this story has become secondary to the demonisation of trans people.
The scientific data supports that induced breast milk is the same chemical and nutritional milk that cis women produce. Julia Hartley Brewer also mentions men who can lactate, whilst still asserting that men cannot lactate. The framing of trans breast milk as a hormone induced chemical soup makes it seem like breast milk is not always triggered by hormone production.
There have also been reports to the NSPCC based on this. Maya Forstater of trans exclusionary lobby group, Sex Matters makes the claim that a trans woman could never produce enough milk, as is the case with some cis women too, but nowhere did Mika ever claim that she is the sole food source for the baby. This is leading to people wasting the time of social services over their own disgust at trans people rather than actually wanting to protect a child.
The media frames trans people as characters or actors in their own lives. Who looks at a photo of a woman breastfeeding for the last time before undergoing chemotherapy and decides they need to be abused? Claiming a mother is using her child as a prop because you disapprove of her parenting style is more telling on them than Mika.
At the end of the day this was a story about poverty and cancer and a real person’s actual daily struggles and has turned into accusations of child neglect, experimentation and countless other baseless accusations. This is not about being ‘nice’ or ‘kind’. It is about basic human dignity.
The people directing hate towards Mika ought to be ashamed, especially those in positions of influence. This is where we are, not because anyone is forced to accept us but because those who could stand up to it chose not to.
After a weekend long media campaign and witch-hunt we have learnt nothing from the media about the original story. The usual bad-actors hae stirred up so much hate that people have had to retreat from social media.
We should all support Mika and send her love.
Freda Wallace
Edit by Seahorse
