Over 5,000 Parents Want To Bring Breastfeeding Back To Sesame Street

Elmo had a lot to learn from Katy Perry

Did you know that beloved educational children's show Sesame Street used to regularly feature segments on breastfeeding? Those nursing segments were eventually replaced with bottle-feeding ones—but now, an online petition to bring breastfeeding back to the show has gained over 5,000 signatures. And here we were thinking that they had already brought it back with that bizarre Katy Perry segment.

The petition states: "Back in the '70s and '80s nursing was tastefully shown on the show but now they have replaced their nursing videos with bottles. Please note... We are not asking Sesame Street to remove bottle feeding. We are asking that both ways of feeding babies be shown as normal." You can see two of the breastfeeding segments above, and one of the bottle-feeding replacements below, where all mentions of breastfeeding have been removed.

As breastfeeding bloggers have argued, bringing such segments to SS could "help normalize breastfeeding to a culture that has completely sexualized breastfeeding." We can't help but wonder what former host Maggie Gyllenhaal, who has nonchalantly breastfed in public herself, might say about all this.

The petition adds that SS could "raise a generation of breastfeeders which will support our economy, make for healthier children and lessen the risk of breast cancer for many nursing mamas!" When it comes down to it, as NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne learned the hard way, you really shouldn't mess with the breastfeeding mafia. Maybe Sesame Street is more afraid that once they allow breastfeeding, they'll end up having features on Baby Gaga human breast milk ice cream.