For years I have been hearing that the late great Fred Rogers had shown breastfeeding on Mister Rogers Neighborhood. As a life long fan of Mister Rogers, I wasn't surprised but I had doubts when I never saw the clip and was annoyed by years of bottle fed mammals on Sesame Street. Had this really happened on the network of the formula fed muppet?
Thank you Tanya at Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog for leading me to this wonderful bit of history.
That was BEAUTIFUL. I can’t believe how much detail he showed–and it’s sad that people would probably get all uptight if that clip were shown on TV today…
[...] from Mr. Rogers, that has been posted by a number of other bloggers such as Elita at Blacktating, Jake Marcus at Sustainable Mothering, and the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog over the past few [...]
Thank you for that lovely clip. While I wish he hadn’t shown a bottle-feeding mother, but that would have been too much to ask. I like the way he focused on the enjoyment of the mothers.
Carla, I wouldn’t be surprised if people objected even then. Diane Wiessinger told me, though, that thirty years ago Americans were much less uptight about the subject and it was unusual for women nursing in public to be harassed.
I too am surprised (pleasantly) that Mr. Rogers showed such explicit breastfeeding. I can’t imagine that sort of thing being shown on a children’s program today.