US Breastfeeding Committee response to TIME mag.

Joint Letter to the Editor of TIME - May 16, 2012 We Are ALL Mom Enough, and We Call a Truce The so-called "Mommy Wars" are over. It is TIME to get with the program, which is no longer about pitting moms and their parenting decisions against one another for the sake of profit. In case you haven't noticed, it's pretty darned hard to be a mom in the U.S.: even those moms fortunate enough to have comprehensive health care coverage, and affordable child care, still don’t have paid family leave (CA and NJ are the only exceptions). The real story here is a culture that doesn’t really value mothers and families beyond Mother's Day. In the past, we've let the media-created "Mommy Wars" get us bogged down in judging others' decisions or feeling guilty about our own. But we've had enough! Moms are uniting to call for the real and permanent change that will make a difference: whether you're in the workforce or your full time work is parenting your kids, cry-it-out believer or attachment parenting subscriber, breastfeeding or formula feeding family. Moms do their best with the information and support available to them, with the operative word being "available." Every family should have the opportunity to make informed choices, and be supported in those choices. That's not our current reality: but fake "wars", blame, guilt, and judgment are not the answers. Instead, moms are working together to demand the support they need and deserve. And we are uniting to ask TIME to cover the real stories, the hard truths. Instead of "Are you mom enough?" we want to see TIME ask "Are we family-friendly enough?" Instead of "How should we parent?" we want to read articles about "How do we support and value parenting in our society?" Those are the stories that will get real moms to buy magazines. TIME, we reject the guilt trip implied by your cover headline. But we thank you for reminding us that, although we continue to be failed by the lack of societal support for the health and wellness of families, we can still support each other. Never underestimate the power of a group of committed moms to effect change in policy and in our society (so that all mothers can parent to the best of their ability). Because we are ALL Mom enough! -The United States Breastfeeding Committee -MomsRising -National Partnership for Women & Families