Students at Saint Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. have created a music video parody that uses humour, and a Carly Rae Jepson song, to raise awareness about breastfeeding.
The parody shows students singing about the benefits of breastfeeding to the tune of Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe.”
“We were trying to target students and show that breastfeeding is normal and OK to do, anytime, and anywhere,” says student Julie Beadle.
Psychology professor Erin Austen has been studying public response to breastfeeding, especially by students. She says their discomfort doesn’t line up with what they know about the benefits.
“While students were knowledgeable about breastfeeding, they had positive attitudes about breastfeeding, they were really uncomfortable about seeing a woman breastfeed,” says Austen, who is also a member of the volunteer group Building a Breastfeeding Environment, or BABE.
She says humour is a great way to battle discomfort, but some have questioned why the students didn’t use a real baby in the video.
“If you look at the style of the video that we’re doing, real images of breastfeeding wouldn’t have fit in this video,” explains Austen.
The video has been a big hit on campus and with the local breastfeeding support group. It will become a part of their resource materials in the campaign to change the stigma surrounding public breastfeeding.
“St. FX has offered to show it on some TVs throughout campus and we’re hoping to show them in the hospital waiting rooms and some other parts of the hospital as well,” says Sionnach Lukeman of BABE.
“People need to see breastfeeding more, so that it’s normalized and they don’t react to it anymore,” says Austen. “I think it’s coming, but we’re still a little ways away.”
Austen says other videos are planned to highlight positive attitudes towards breastfeeding.
They will include nursing mothers, with a touch of humour, to help get the message across.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
