The Racial and Economic Politics of Babywearing at Anti-Racist Parent - for parents committed to raising children with an anti-racist outlook

The Racial and Economic Politics of Babywearing

by Anti-Racist Parent columnist Maegan “la Mala” Ortiz

According the Wikipedia, babywearing is the practice of carrying your child in a sling or other type of carrier. The actual term babywearing was coined by Dr. William Sears, father of the Attachment Parenting movement, that advocates the development of a strong secure emotional bond/relationship between parent and child in order to help create a strong emotionally secure adult. Babywearing does this by keeping the child physically close to a parent or caregiver when they are most vulnerable.

Before I go any further I should clearly state that I am a babywearer, although it’s a term I’m not all that comfortable with. Not because I don’t believe that babywearing benefits both the baby and the wearer, but maybe it’s because of how I came to the practice.

When I started wearing my now 10 year old baby (don’t worry I’m not carrying her anymore) I was a single 20 year old working mami tired of carrying a heavy ass stroller up and down subway stairs (people seriously need to help mamis with strollers. Don’t pretend you didn’t see. I know you saw me). My first carrier was a Snugli that cost 20 bucks and I used for like three months because it started to kill my back. After that it was back to hauling a stroller.

However, babywearing wasn’t invented by the hoards of hipster parents that practice it nowadays and while a better relationship with your baby may be a plus, it likely wasn’t the reason why people were tying their babies on.

Many, if not most indigenous and people of color communities around the globe wear their babies. From the continents of Asia, the Americas and Africa, indigenous women from ancient times wore their babies, mostly so that they could get back to the daily chores of life while taking care of their young. Babywearing was practical. So practical in fact, that on those continents, it is considered an act of the lower, poor classes. After all, wealthy women had people to do their chores for them, including carrying and taking care of their babies.

And it’s that fact that makes the whole babywearing movement in the U.S. so interesting. The babywearing community is mostly white and upper middle class to upper class and they better be. Wearing your baby doesn’t come cheap. Simple pouches can run 70 dollars and up. “Asian” style carriers are in the 80 dollar range and wraps, long pieces of cloth , are 100 dollars plus. On webboards and at meetings, mama’s show off their stashes of different kinds of babywearing gear, which includes special coats, vests, covers and leg-warmers for wearing your baby in the winter.

But back to the origins of babywearing. Many of these babywearing communities have the nasty little habit of fetishizing/exoticizing their practice. Without irony they post pictures of “traditional” babywearing across the globe and oooh and ahhh and say how cute. I even came across one post with a mama proudly and excitedly sharing how and Asian older man commented on her Asian style babywearing and according to her, he even said it in a “cute accent”. Others will ask on websites, “what kind of wraps to people use in ________(insert name of third world people of color country here) because they know someone from that country and want to gift them with a wrap.

And then there is the whole reference to what many attachment parents refer to sometimes as the bible of attachment parenting, a little book called the Continuum Concept. The book, by Jean Liedloff , should be called the bible of cultural appropriation and look how cool primitive people are. And yes the book actually refers to an indigenous tribe from South America as primitive and stone age. The book basically tells parents that they should be like this tribe. Included in this is babywearing.

I’m not saying that all babywearers are guilty of this this racial and economic use of privilege and cultural appropriation. But as a mama of color who wears her baby I feel like the odd lady out at babywearing meetings and websites. Not just because I can’t afford the have stashes like the other mamis, but because I am a mama of color, whose roots are in traditional baby wearing communities and working people of color communities.

Maegan “la Mala” Ortiz is a Queens, NYC born and bred radical Nuyorican mami writer, poeta, activista, blogger, and academic coach (trying) to work at home with her two chicas, La MapucheRican (10) and the Poroto ChileRican (7 months) and her very patient partner just known as “el Chileno”. She is an editor at VivirLatino and (poorly) maintains her personal blog Mamita Mala. She wants to write a book or two and is graciously accepting offers for babysitting.

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Nubian Waves edition of The Erace Racism Blog Carnival on 20 Feb 2008 at 1:50 pm

[…] The Racial and Economic Politics of Babywearing - “According the Wikipedia, babywearing is the practice of carrying your child in a sling or other type of carrier.” [Anti-Racist Parent] […]

Comments

FireMom wrote:

Hmm. Interesting.

Babywearing has just always been part of my concept of how you carry your child.

My brother was born (I was and my Mom wore him around. As did my aunt with all four of her kids. Granted, the 80’s carriers weren’t quite as awesome as today’s selection. But still.

So, when my first parented son was born, I had a sling waiting for use. But it wasn’t to be part of a hipster scene, exactly. I had one because that’s what you do with your baby. And we found out, quickly, that was the only way the kid would go to sleep!!!! Our stash grew but mostly thanks to the For Sale or Trade forum on a great babywearing site.

That said… I know babywearing mothers (and fathers!!) of quite a few different races and all different social classes. In fact, the site No Mother Left Behind ( http://www.nomotherleftbehind.com/ ) works to make sure that low income families/mothers/fathers can get their hands on something to wear their child. Because the benfits of bonding do exist.

And hey, without either a mei tai or ring sling (as LittleBrother hates pouches), I wouldn’t be getting any laundry done this time around. Or food made. The list goes on. There are practical and bonding uses for babywearing. I embrace them all.

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 9:36 am ¶
erinthebeekeeper wrote:

I find it odd that white women look to other cultures for examples of babywearing instead of looking at their own culture. The only photo my family has of my great great grandmother and great grandfather was when they arrived in America from Ireland in 1891. My great grandfather was two and wrapped up on the back of his mother. My husbands grandmother arrived in the United States from Spain during the Spanish Revolution tied to the back of her mother.

I have to wonder if the white families who like wrapping their children in kente cloth are trying to show off how diverse they are in their lives. Perhaps I’m cynical, I don’t know. But sometimes It feels like “Some of my best friends are black”

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 9:50 am ¶
Julia wrote:

This post reminds me of a phenomenon in this country … that all of the ‘free and cheaper’ stuff to do with/for babies are all done by ” people with money” . ie breastfeeding, making baby food, cloth diapering, co sleeping, and slinging.

I have a great sling that I use with my toddler. He has a short fuse when it comes to riding in carts at the grocery store or the stroller at the mall or whatever. So both my husband and I have slings to wear him in. Our first was very laid back and didn’t seem to mind how we transported him, whether it be stroller sling or back pack.
Here is the link to the site where we got our slings… http://www.slinglings.com/

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 11:01 am ¶
turtlebella wrote:

Hey Mamita Mala,

Thanks for writing this. I can get myself quite worked up about the cultural appropriation of babywearing, especially when it comes to the “Mayan” babyslings (I think I am especially sensitive to that since I am Chicana). Ugh. But as you say, wearing your baby has all kinds of practical and emotional benefits so it’s hard for me to completely condemn it altogether. Much of the cultural appropriation seems so mindless, as in people have NO.IDEA that they are excotizing and or fetishizing people of color and/or indigenous peoples. I find myself vaguely annoyed by such people. But some of the websites you talk about I hadn’t heard about & they seem quite obvious and blatant and this really pisses me off. And that book - UGH UGH UGH.

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 1:01 pm ¶
christine wrote:

I am a “babywearer”, but do not feel myself tied to any particular ethos of parenting. I just do what’s natural. I mean, babies were worn for thousands of years, why should I think that we somehow improved upon that!

I think that the problem is that as white Americans (that sounds awful, but I’m having hard tome finding a better term), we have a lack of cultural identity so we have to co-op other cultures, especally those that we find “exotic” in comparison to our largely whitewashed society. Add to that the fact that we are discouraged to explore our own cultural heratige for fear of being branded white supremicists, its not surprising that so many caucasians look to other cultures for a “natural” way of living.

I don’t choose to identify myself as a member of any particular culture, as my heritage, while all euro-caucasian, is very diversified. I don’t care how the 1/8th of my Irish ancestors wore their baby v.s how the 1/4 Norweigan did it. Every culture has an awesome way to carry a baby, and I enjoy experimenting with all of them, in order to find the style that best suits me and my child. If I look a little out of place with my blond haired, blue eyed child in a rebozo or a mui-tei, so be it. He’s happy and that makes me happy!

Eep, this turned into an dissertation…sorry!!

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 1:49 pm ¶
erinthebeekeeper wrote:

“I think that the problem is that as white Americans (that sounds awful, but I’m having hard tome finding a better term), we have a lack of cultural identity so we have to co-op other cultures, especally those that we find “exotic” in comparison to our largely whitewashed society. Add to that the fact that we are discouraged to explore our own cultural heratige for fear of being branded white supremicists, its not surprising that so many caucasians look to other cultures for a “natural” way of living.”

This really hit what I was thinking on the head. Well said!

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 2:19 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:

>I don’t choose to identify myself as a member of any particular culture, as my heritage, while all euro-caucasian, is very diversified. I don’t care how the 1/8th of my Irish ancestors wore their baby v.s how the 1/4 Norweigan did it.

But, as erinthebeekeeper mentioned, the Irish (and probably most European peoples) baby-wore as a fact of (probably rural and travel) life.

If most “generic white people” who feel that the mainstream US culture is bland/blank KNEW their heritages and the diversity within them, they might 1) stop seeing the default state of “American” or US culture as white-only, and 2) be aware of and ultiamtely reject that often-unconscious exoticism.

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 2:30 pm ¶
christine wrote:

I’m wondering if my post was mis-understood.

I don’t mean that I don’t care HOW my european ancestors wore their babies. I mean to say that I don’t feel like I should restrict myself from other culture’s babywearing styles simply because they don’t make up a portion of my gene pool!

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 3:05 pm ¶
dawn wrote:

I’m a (former — my kids are growing) avid babywearer myself because how does anyone get stuff done if they can’t strap their kid on?? But that said, I agree with your criticism of the continumm concept mindset. And then (I just sent this to Carmen) but this post made me think of the picture on this satiric blog:
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/about/

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 3:22 pm ¶
Karen wrote:

“all of the ‘free and cheaper’ stuff to do with/for babies are all done by ” people with money” . ie breastfeeding, making baby food, cloth diapering, co sleeping, and slinging.”

Probably because so many of these things, while free, require lots of time. If you’re home with your baby, breastfeeding is great, but if you’re not, and you have a low-status, non-flexible job, how are you going to be able to pump? Making baby food takes more time than buying it. Ditto for using/laundering cloth diapers vs. buying disposables, and if both parents work, insisting on cloth diapers will limit your (probably already very limited) choice of day cares drastically. We co-slept for a while, and I found it almost impossible to lie down with my son so he would fall asleep, but stay awake myself so that I could have that precious 45-90 minutes of free time at the end of the day. Slings, I can’t really speak to, never having tried them except for the Baby Bjorn which my son never really liked.

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 3:26 pm ¶
harlemjd wrote:

Christine,

And that’s fine, IMHO, if as you’re adopting what’s practical for you and your kid. No one’s saying that you’re stuck with how the Irish or the Norse did things. There are other reasons and motivations, though, for some people’s use of practices from other cultures, and those can be very problematic.

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 3:28 pm ¶
sadie wrote:

great post!

I object to the idea that the dominant white culture has no culture so we have to borrow from other people. What it is, is, we gave up our ethnic diversity, along with all our cultural uniqueness, in exchange for whiteness. so it’s not really right to bemoan how we don’t have ethnicity or whatever, because what we have instead is privilege.

Just something to think about.

and I don’t think there’s a thing wrong with tracking back to your ancestral ethnicity from before your people became white; i think more white people ought to do that. Just don’t use it as a weapon against other forms of cultural and ethnic celebrations.

As for babywearing, well, there’s a reason nearly every culture does it! I don’t know how I would’ve survived without a sling, but when someone gave me one called a “New Native” I just passed it on, no way was I gonna go down that road, yuck! As though carrying my baby that way made me somehow native? i don’t think so! and there’s the trouble, thinking that since the way we carry our babies is reminiscent of a -particular culture that we then somehow own or are connected to that culture. We’re just borrowing (if we’re respectful about it) or stealing (if we aren’t respectful about it).

ooops, too much coffee makes me ranty! LOL.

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 6:30 pm ¶
Anne wrote:

You’re mistaken to assume that this is something that only colored women practised. I am a recent immigrant from Europe, and babywearing was practiced by my mother, my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and by their grandmothers.

It is not something new or something unique to Africa, Asia, or the Middle-East.

The women that practice it do so because it is convenient, not because it was stolen from colored women. For example, my European grandmother practiced it so she could do her chores.

Therefore, I believe that you should inform yourself more before you make such absolute statements.

Posted 06 Feb 2008 at 9:19 pm ¶
Ruth wrote:

My husband and I are (white) Australians living in South Africa. We wear our daughter in a pouch we purchased in Australia. Baby wearing here is still, in many ways culturally defined and nothing marks us as foreign more than the fact that we ‘wear’ our baby.

The African women here wear their babies on their backs, mainly because many of them are poor and have to walk to where they want to go and it’s the easiest way.

We wear our child because she’s heavy and my back isn’t what it used to be after the birth. However, I rarely see white babies being ‘worn’. My husband always attracts attention when he is carrying the baby in the sling since it seems that most white men here don’t wear babies.

Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 3:22 am ¶
Max wrote:

It is these kind of posts that make me want to quit anti racist parent. White women can’t get a break with you. God forbid we decorate ourselves with cloth from another country. Fashion gets ideas from other cultures. Should white American fashion have to be different from everyone else in the country?

Are black women and Central American women allowed to trade fabrics, but leave out those whose live with white privilage?

I understand not wearing the traditional dress from another country unless instructed to by a local, but why waste internet space on this when there are other, deeper ways, to become an anti-rascist parent.

I’ll admit maybe this makes me raw because I’ve enjoyed living overseas, had some incredible experiences with these impoverished women in Africa you are talking about and it is like I’m not allowed to do so because I’m white. I’ve carried their cute munchkins on my back and bought cloth from them that I used 5 years later for my munchkins.

As for Asian fabrics, trade in those has been going on for centuries so it is not like white women in America are the first people using fabrics from a different culture anyway.

Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 8:11 am ¶
Maegan la Mala wrote:

I never meant to imply that only POC cultures wear their babies. What I meant to state, more clearly perhaps, is that many white women appropriate and exotify poc babywearing .

And sorry, I can be all , oh poor white women who never get a break. I’ve had and still do to deal with too much shit as a mami of color to even have time for that.

Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 9:17 am ¶
Anne wrote:

Max, I completely agree. Posts like these make me want to pull my hair out due to their ignorance. Since when did colored women invent babywearing??? Women of ALL races and cultures practice it due to its convenience.

My only advice for people who actually think that white women are “stealing” from them is to educate themselves about other countries and their cultures.

Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 9:22 am ¶
Carrie wrote:

Hmmm… I need to process this post more. I think it may hit a bit close to home as I am one of those “avid babywearers” you describe, as well as a mama to a boy born in Korea.

Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 9:35 am ¶
Hilary wrote:

Thanks for this post. I was stopped a few times by African American women and told that they loved my sling, and that they had never seen one before! Since these were strangers, all I did was stammer “Thanks” but I almost wanted to pull them aside and say - I am appropriating your ancestors’ culture! Be proud! I am very grateful and not the least bit taking it for granted.

Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 10:38 am ¶
Michele James-Parham wrote:

Hnmmm. I am not really sure where to begin. I am Czechoslovakian (Romani/gypsy; three quarters) and married to a fantastic man who is African, Irish and Native American (Blackfoot). My husband is very educated in and connected to his African heritage and so am I. However, my enlightenment came well before we were together…having a gypsy background, means that I also have African (Egyptian) and Punjabi heritage. If you want the history lesson, feel free to ask.

I have learned that most of what ‘white people’ call their own or attribute to the Romans and Greeks, is in fact Egyptian-African. So, it can be fair to say that all babywearing has come from the Mother Land and then been tweaked to fit ‘your/our people’. It is more a practice of living and not so much a practice of parenting.

Our son is 4 and I have picked up a handful of carriers as he’s grown and our needs have changed. I have never actively sought out a carrier because that’s how the XXXX people ‘do it’. I have just sought out options and styles and chosen what I thought would work best and that we could afford.

While it is the new ‘hip thing’ in parenting among affluent white culture, I don’t think the average parent who practices babywearing out of practical reasons and/or emotional/bonding reasons is exploiting someone else’s ethnicity. Even though they might have gotten the idea from a culturally insensitive or exploitive book, tis not mean that they themselves are culturally insensitive — at their worst, they might be culturally ignorant/oblivious.

I also think that the argument can be viewed as a tad petty…but what do I know; I am a ‘white girl’ with dreadlocks; how’s that for exploitive and insensitive?

Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 2:10 pm ¶
Gillian wrote:

Max wrote: “Are black women and Central American women allowed to trade fabrics, but leave out those whose live with white privilage?”

You’re missing the point, Max. It’s not about who’s allowed to trade fabrics. It’s about borrowing something from another culture (nothing wrong with that) but still managing to be demeaning about that culture (lots wrong with that).

Odd word associations such as “cute-traditional”, “cool-primitive”, or the brand Karen mentioned, “New-Native”, pinpoint this. These things do not go together and any attempt to make them do so is rife with insincerity.

So basically, what these exoticising/fetishising babywearers (and not all babywearers) are saying is “I am better than these primitive, non-white people who have to wear their babies.” You see, that’s what privilege is: you have a choice.

Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 3:02 pm ¶
turtlebella wrote:

A number of commenters on this post seem to believe that what is being said is that they shouldn’t be allowed to wear their baby. When in fact, that’s not the case at all. No one is saying that you only “get” to wear your baby if you are from a native community. You missed the point. Read the post again.

Still defensive? Then ask yourself WHY you are so defensive. Is it because someone is oh-o-subtly pointing out your privilege? Is it because you feel guilty?

Overall, my question is this. If, as many people have pointed out, babywearing is not exclusive to indigenous communities (or POC communities), then WHY are there so so so many companies and individuals who capitalize on those communities and their babywearing practices, fabric-types, sling modes? At least one reason is because, my friends, it’s exotic. Hell of more exotic to have an image of a Mayan woman or an exotic “Oriental” (word use is purposeful) woman wearing her baby. Sure, we live in a world where ideas should be traded. And if white/European folks have forgotten their own babywearing practices and need to get it from other cultures…well, so be it. But try to acknowledge that a real exchange of ideas is not what’s happening here. Someone is selling you something (oh dear, stop me before I call out capitalism as the root of all evil). And that thing, it’s at least partially exocticism.

So, wear your baby, by all means. Just try to be a little sensitive when you see advertising or hear people that demeans or dismisses the cultures that developed your particular style(s) of babywearing. And for frick’s sake, try not to make this about YOU feeling attacked for wearing your baby.

Posted 07 Feb 2008 at 11:38 pm ¶
Maegan la Mala wrote:

I am pulling this from a beloved Native friend of mine: “How much a right to any of us have to knowledge and knowing people? Is it inherent in the American/western identity? In white privilege? Do people think before they stride forward and begin with questions, even as innocuous as they may seem? When ceremonies like blessingways are appropriated and performed incorrectly, the ceremonies are mangled, the religion is mangled, the land that is firmly tied to these ceremonies are mangled and so on… their power is stolen and disipates, similar to pouring medicine down the drain. Or, at times it backfires, like the white folks who attempted a sweat and died from asphyxiation because they did not set it up correctly.

The pursuit of knowledge in the western world is sacred; I remember when I put the puzzle together, when I had a white man teaching me on American Indian identity. He works as an anthropologist and he’s translated Perez de Ribas into English… he is very much an academic. He shared things with the class that made me very uncomfortable and I challenged him, where did he get this knowledge, who told him, why is he repeating it, do the people who told him know he is sharing it? He looked at me like I was insane. Really.

Blessingways are easy to frame as cultural appropriation most times, but the pursuit of knowledge, it is held sacred, as if to keep knowledge from people of the dominant culture is harm to them. It reeks of “reverse racism” to me, just another symptom of it.”

Posted 08 Feb 2008 at 8:28 am ¶
Alisa Valdes wrote:

I think you are right on the money, La Mala. I used to cringe every time I saw the white mamas at our expensive preschool wearing their babies, and their sarapes, and their gauraches. We were the only actual Latino family in our class, and the only time any of these women tried to talk to me was when she adopted a boy from Guatemala and wanted to know how I thought she should “give him his culture”. I reminded her that culture is not genetic, and that he was now a member of HER family, whatever culture that would bring. She did not like that answer. She had bought her a brown baby to wear, damnit, and she wanted him foreign…

Posted 08 Feb 2008 at 10:21 am ¶
Heather wrote:

As the owner of a company that makes baby carriers I have been very interested in this discussion. I don’t know that I have anything in particular to add to the discussion. I do feel that some aspects of babywearing (in the extremes) can border on obsession, cultural appropriation and racial insensitivity. I also feel that there are many people whose eyes are opened to the innate brilliance of parents everywhere when they first find a carrier and then learn, “oh this has been used for thousands of years, this other one for longer, etc.”

Posted 08 Feb 2008 at 8:08 pm ¶
Arwyn wrote:

“The babywearing community is mostly white and upper middle class to upper class and they better be. Wearing your baby doesn’t come cheap.”

I think this is the part of your article that bothers me the most. Yes, all the fashionable, “modern”, made-for-the-purpose carriers are expensive, and I’m bothered by the collector aspect of the “babywearing community” at the same time as part of me wishes I were wealthy enough to participate.

But part of this movement is trying to teach that babywearing is natural, and can use /anything/. The aspect of looking at “traditional” babywearing around the globe that I most like is that, in the vast majority of cases, women are carrying their babies with fabric they already had. Blankets, skirts, shawls, whatever. And we can do the same. A twin sheet or a large towel can make an excellent babycarrier (I’ve used both). It’s nice to have made-for-the-purpose carriers in the same way it’s nice to have a pair of jeans or a nice blouse or comfy shoes, for style and comfort, but one CAN use ANYTHING. Babywearing can be cheap or even free.

Still, what you posted from your friend about the dominant culture (white American culture, of which I am a part) and its belief in its absolute /right/ to knowledge did resonate with me. When I used a towel to wear my baby on my back, I did it “kanga-style”. I learned how by watching videos on my laptop in my suburban livingroom downloaded over my high speed wireless connection of African women, who may or may not have known or understood why they were asked to show how they wore their baby while this strange probably white person pointed a camera at them. Is that exploitation? Appropriation? Attempting to learn from those who haven’t lost their cultural knowledge of carrying their babies and getting on with their lives?

And I do want to learn it all, know it all. It’s not enough that I have a carry and a carrier that I like; I study all the different ways women have carried babies and try to duplicate them. I was extremely proud of myself when I figured out a torso (”kanga”) carry. Part of me wants to get my hand on a wide blanket podaegi and figure that out too. I’m not a collector of all the different colors and fabrics, but I am a collector of the knowledge and styles. That is surely a mark of my privilege. But, perhaps because I am of this culture as much as I try to be apart from it, I value that knowledge. To me, knowledge is good. It’s not “mine”, it isn’t something I learn from the women in my own community, in my own family, but I want it. And although I can see the privilege inherent in having the time and resources to collect that knowledge, I still can’t see the collection itself as “bad”. Is it inherently? Or is it only at risk of being racist when… what? What is the line?

Just don’t get me started on Leidloff… My copy of that book is full of angry scribbles; my partner won’t read it because I spent the two days I read it swearing and yelling at him about it. And yet, I think she was on to something and the ideas have been taken to valuable places by those who were inspired by her. Should I shun the whole movement because the originator was racist to the extreme?

Babywearing is good (very good, in my opinion). Some of the ideas of the philosophy known as Continuum Parenting are good. Cultural appropriation and romanticizing “the savage” are bad — very bad. How then does one navigate those waters?

Posted 09 Feb 2008 at 1:12 am ¶
Jessica wrote:

“I used to cringe every time I saw the white mamas at our expensive preschool wearing their babies”

I think this type of comment is exactly the reason some were getting the impression that the implication is that only women of color have the “right” to wear their children.

I am a white female who wears my child for two reasons. First, because it frees my hands to get things done. Second, and I think more important, because it allows me to bond with my child and provide her with the security of knowing she is close to me. I think that the practice of babywearing has made me a better parent. Bottom-line, I babywear because it is good for my child.

So, I would never cringe if I saw anyone wearing a baby, because I know that the child is benefiting from it.

Posted 09 Feb 2008 at 5:28 pm ¶
Colleen wrote:

Wow. AntiRacist Parent?
I see an incredible amount of stereotyping and lines being drawn in the sane by this author.

To raise my child ‘Anti Racist’ I certainly will NOT be using this post as a role model.

Wow. In utter disbelief that this is supposed to be some sort of advocacy blog?

Posted 09 Feb 2008 at 6:22 pm ¶
Mom2myNDNbabies wrote:

First, babywearing isn’t only done by those with money. I made my first sling for less than $5. I made my first wrap for less than $10. I CHOSE to upgrade to a $100 wrap because it is more supportive. Can I still use my $10 wrap? Certainly! But if I’m walking around for hours on end with a 25 lb sleeping 2 year old on my back, then I would prefer to at least be supported and comfortable. Many parents spend $80 to $100 in those back pack carriers, so why is it so odd that I would choose to spend that money on something much more stylish and comfortable, as well as lasting much longer. Just some food for thought.

Secondly, if you considering yourself to be an aspiring academic coach, you might want to re-visit English 101 to brush up on basic grammar. You had several mistakes that I am sure were simply overlooked because of the passion you were feeling while typing (yes, your passion was evident and came through loud and clear).

And third, or lastly, I am white. My husband is full blood Native American. His family LOVES that I wear our babies. It’s a dying art and they love that in my own way I am helping to keep old traditions of other “indigenous people” (as you chose to call them) alive.

Posted 09 Feb 2008 at 8:05 pm ¶
barbarafw wrote:

How much a right to any of us have to knowledge and knowing people?

The right to knowledge and knowing people is only limited by our ability (or inability) to ask questions and listen to the answers.

Posted 09 Feb 2008 at 11:42 pm ¶
smashley wrote:

I find your article to be racist, pure and simple.

Do I need to give up tea, chocolate, and hamburgers? They come from other cultures. The beauty of being an American is that our culture is comprised of people from every corner of the earth. And they bring their traditions with them and we all benefit from our cultural knowledge base expanding.

I am part cajun should I only eat gumbo and speak in modified french? And no gumbo for you!

I don’t think certain practices “belong” to any one culture. We are all of the earth.

Posted 10 Feb 2008 at 11:41 am ¶
Yolanda Munoz wrote:

As a Latina (Mexican-American), I am proud to wear my baby the way my ancestors did. I am saddened by my own people for leaving their culture behind to distance themselves from the indigenous peoples. Now I only see other Latina moms bottle feeding and pushing strollers.

Seeing all types of parents that wear their babies and breastfeed will hopefully show that it is not just for “poor” people. It is for parents that want the best for their babies.

I rarely see anyone wearing their baby. It would be great to see others, so as not to look like a 2 headed monster while carrying my little ones.

Posted 11 Feb 2008 at 1:18 am ¶
nichole wrote:

I think this post completely misses the point of babywearing. Firstly, as many commenters pointed out, babywearing was never restricted to certain continents. In this context, the term “cultural appropriation” doesn’t really make sense.

While I’m sure that there are a small percentage of women who baby wear for the sake of “fetishizing,” I believe that the vast majority of mamas are looking for a practical solution to multi-tasking. From the women I know (and yes, I am of the hispter generation) babywearing has less to do with cultural or racial issues and more about using the limited time available with our babies to bond and interact.

After living and traveling extensively in Southeast Asia, when I see an Asian mother slinging her baby around, I feel an immediaste bond with her. Its not about race or culture, but the fact that we are both mothers. My husband and I have carried my little one through India, China, Borneo and the Hilltribe regions of Northern Thailand and always been met with smiles and encouragement. I hope my little girl looks back on the pictures of her with slung babies throughout the world and sees the value of learning from other cultures.

Instead of looking at the positives of a very healthy trend, it is disappointing to see such a negatively focused article. I usually look to Anti-racist parent for a balanced perspective of tolerance, education and understanding of how to raise my bi-racial child, but I find this post riddled with angst, stereotypes and downright inaccuracies.

Posted 11 Feb 2008 at 2:08 am ¶
GDSinPA wrote:

I’m really confused by this article and some of the comments because there are so many unsubstantiated assumptions going in. Since when is baby wearing a fad only among the upper class? Fancy strollers and “baby buckets” cost way more than carriers and wraps.

I agree that the comments and attitudes you cited are demeaning, but they aren’t really related to baby wearing specifically.

Posted 11 Feb 2008 at 10:59 am ¶
sadie wrote:

I hope folks will re-read turtlebella’s comment and then re-read the actual essay that la mala posted.

And see if you can answer this question: what is the difference between calling something “new native” or “maya wrap” and calling it “over the shoulder baby holder,” or “ergo.”

Posted 11 Feb 2008 at 2:50 pm ¶
barbarafw wrote:

Bravo smashley!

You said what I wanted to say, much better than I would’ve.

Posted 11 Feb 2008 at 2:53 pm ¶
harlemjd wrote:

GDSinPA (and everybody else) - I think part of the confusion may be regional differences. I think that the writer is from NYC, both because she talks about the “subway” and because that subset of white hipster baby-carriers totally does exist here, and they do tend to be cultural fetishists. (which is not to say that all white NYC baby-carriers are, but I recognize the “type” she’s describing)

Yeah, the writer over-generalizes, but the target is there. (and if that’s not you and your baby bjorn or your purely practical carrier made from whatever, then just figure it doesn’t apply to you)

Posted 11 Feb 2008 at 11:46 pm ¶
Ansley wrote:

I agree white privilege inherent in the modern American baby wearing culture. Most minority and or lower income mothers could not afford most of the carriers popular with the babywearing set. My question is; doesn’t intent count for anything? I wear my son because his foster mother wore him, and I wanted to continue the good work she started. I saw babywearing as superior to stroller and ‘bucket’ use. I own 3 carriers, one asian style, one american style, and a pouch type sling. It’s hard for me to imagine my desire to keep a continuum in my son’s life, during a time of great upheaval (his adoption), cultural appropriation.

Posted 12 Feb 2008 at 12:05 am ¶
sadie wrote:

Ansley, I understand the question of intent. but…I’ve learned over the years, and what I teach my child is, what matters is what happens. No one really ever intends to kill another person when they drive drunk, for example; is it the intent that matters there? And most white folks in this day and age don’t intend to be racist; but, having been raised in a racist society we often do and say things that are racist in spite of our best intentions, and that racism still hurts real live people. our good intentions don’t erase the harm we do, and we can’t ask the people hurt to become unhurt just because we didn’t intend it.

But also, it doesn’t seem to me that there’s anything wrong with carrying/wearing your child, I don’t think that was the point of the post. What’s wrong is to fetishize or toehrwise disrespect the people who the carriers are modeled on, or to think you are somehow culturally different because of your carrier. If you aren’t doing those things, I doubt anyone would have issue with your baby wearing.

Posted 12 Feb 2008 at 3:37 pm ¶
yunape wrote:

i’m a white babywearing (or not so much, as my children are growing) mom. and i fully agree with mala’s stance.

in my opinion, some commenters should re-read the article. nowhere does it state that white mothers should not wear their babies, or that babywearing is always, inherently, cultural appropriation. babywearing is great for both kids and their caregivers, it’s practical in many ways, and i’m happy to see more and more people doing it. but look at how many (not all, but many) carriers are marketed - they have names revoking indigenous people, they use “exotic” fabrics, the brochures are full of examples of wocs carrying their babies in supposedly traditional settings. looking at that, you just can’t deny that there’s some fetishizing of the oh so exotic practice going on.
and while it’s certainly possible to wear your baby without spending much money, with babywearing becoming hip in some white middle class circles it has become a status symbol. you don’t have to, but certainly you can, and many people do, spend a whole lot of money on their collection of carriers. and maybe it’s petty and i’m showing my consumerist side her, but as a poor mama having to do with two cheap carriers, i felt pretty jealous looking at all those awesome carriers i couldn’t afford.

Posted 12 Feb 2008 at 4:42 pm ¶
NancyM wrote:

New Native Inc. was started in 1992 by me, Nancy Main. I found that carrying my baby Angela, my third child, in a sling style baby carrier made a huge difference in my life. She was easy to care for and happy most of the time. It had not been as easy with my older children. As a result of the experience with my daughter I decided to offer this product to other parents, feeling that they could derive a similar benefit from “baby wearing”. The design philosophies we use to promote our product are that they are made of quality fabrics, sturdy in design and simple and practical for anyone to use.
Since the birth of New Native I have strived to be a socially conscious business. In addition to donating carriers to worthy causes such as teen parent programs and natural disaster relief around the world, we also offer our “Friends of Bonding” program. This program provides carriers at a reduced cost or by donation amounts of whatever families that are struggling financially can afford. This program is particularly important to me as my family was once in a difficult financial position and I can defiantly relate to the struggles they are currently enduring and the benefits baby wearing can provide, especially during more challenging times.
Wearing my daughter in a sling created peace and harmony within me that was not there before this simple and practical method of baby wearing. I tend to look at things from a bigger picture point of view. I could see that my sling, which had helped me gain more peace and harmony also had a positive effect on my family and the larger community; eventually positively affecting the world. It was with this larger picture of a harmonious world that the name New Native was chosen. This name is my hope, my prayer and my desire for the entire world of humans to love and respect each other as the brothers and sisters we are: A world where no one person or group of people would ever behave as if they were better than any other person or group of people. Where we see what we have in common and honor, appreciate and respect our differences. I see a world in which we value each other enough to point out each others strengths and overlook weaknesses. A world where we see differences in skin color, country and culture as wonderful and interesting; what a boring world it would be if we all looked the same. We are all natives of this world. My definition of a New Native is someone who lives on this earth, someone who respects and values all peoples, nature and animals, someone who strives for harmony and healing, and someone who continues to grow and learn, striving to become the change that they wish for this world.

Posted 12 Feb 2008 at 8:16 pm ¶
Tricia wrote:

I find much merit to the original article in regards to fetishism, and I am pleased to see more follow up in comments indicating that the practice of wearing isn’t the problem.

I was really struck by this particular comment, however. “She had bought her a brown baby to wear, damnit, and she wanted him foreign…”

Most people who choose to adopt do so because they want to expand their families, not because because of any sense of ownership that comes from spending money. As a women with secondary infertility, we spent a signficiant amount of time exploring our options, including international and interracial adoption. I also teach intercultural communication. You are absolutely correct, of course, that culture is learned, not innate, but that mother in the story is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Everything she has read tells her that in international/interracial adoption, that child needs to have strong ties to his or her home culture for identity puproses because both whites and people of color will forever see that child through the lense of his or her country of origin. In other words, she is stuck because the child is stuck. That child will be seen by whites as “foreign” even if entirely enculturated into U.S. dominant culture. That child will be seen as “less than” by other Latinos if she raises him entirely in her cultural puerspective. That child is stuck because we are stuck. Stuck in racist and limited ways of seeing people. It is as much of all us who want to see that child as “foreign.”

That mother most likely wants the best for a baby she loves.

Posted 13 Feb 2008 at 7:43 am ¶
RRC wrote:

As a mother of four “multi-ethnic” children ranging from 12-22, I think this whole thing is rediculous. No ONE person or Ethnicity owns the right to ANY name or invention. Lets learn to share and raise happy babies!!

Posted 13 Feb 2008 at 1:07 pm ¶
Jessica wrote:

Nancy, thank you so much for your comments and your explanation.

I do want to say that I find it sort of amusing to see so many posters refer to consumerism and how carriers are viewed as a status symbol. Yes, there are some well-known babywearers who are celebrities who wear really pricey carriers. But where I live, about the only people who would appreciate my carriers are other babywearers, and I only know a small handful of them in real life. Most of my babywearing friends are on the internet.

When I am in public wearing my child, I am more often glared at or sneered at or laughed at than admired. If you look at the forums in the babywearing community referenced in the initial blog, there are numberous threads about being criticized or viewed as a nutcase for babywearing, by both family and complete strangers. Babywearing is not yet very mainstream, certainly not in my neck of the woods.

Do I care what others think? Not really. I wear my baby because she loves it and I love it. I buy or make what I consider to be pretty carriers because I enjoy them, not to garner attention or admiration.

And to respond to those who don’t have a lot of cash and are jealous of those with beautiful carriers, do what I do - learn to sew and make your own. I do buy wraps (I don’t have a loom!) but I have never purchased a mei tai, ring sling or pouch for my own use. I buy my own beautiful fabrics and make then for a fraction of the cost of the commercial ones. There are many free websites with instructions.

Also, along the same vein, for those moms who want carriers but cannot afford them (and are not inclined to make their own), there are a number of programs out there to get good carriers to low income women.

Posted 13 Feb 2008 at 4:36 pm ¶
greg from daddytypes wrote:

non-babywearing New York white guy here. I’ve had the sense that it was the hippies, not the hipsters, who were the biggest non poc proponents of babywearing.

The flipside of the practical/beneficial justification for adopting the practice is that people were dissatisfied with the prevailing cultural practice–i.e., strollers and those annoying windup swings and playpens, etc.–and sought out alternatives.

When an advocacy group like Rebozo Way touts its commitment to promoting “attachment parenting as practiced by indigenous peoples worldwide,” it sounds to me like an appeal to the authority and authenticity of the practices, vis a vis the broken/sub-optimal mainstream model.

Where the line between “exoticizing” and “honoring” is drawn, I don’t know.

Posted 14 Feb 2008 at 12:06 am ¶
Vondja wrote:

I “wore” both my children until they were toddlers. I did so for many reasons, the most important of which was they cried when I didn’t. It was easier to vacuum, catch a bus, and type at the computer when I could carry my baby hands-free.

I have also worked and researched in Central and South America where “babywearing” is not a fad but a necessity. When I was looking for a carrier, I had to laugh at all the “Mayan” and “Indigenous” wraps that were being sold using words like “traditional” in its advertising. I laughed because most of the people I knew used plain sheets and/or blankets that sported Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse. Yes, there were those who used local fabric, but there was not a specific construction.

When I was pregnant, one of my friends tried to teach me how to carry my baby using just a sheet. Actually, she was my friend’s daughter who was nine years old and already an expert at carrying her infant brother. I ended up buying a $20 Snugli because I didn’t feel confident that I could tie the sheet just right. I should have started practicing when I was nine years old.

Posted 14 Feb 2008 at 12:06 pm ¶
Ansley wrote:

“No one really ever intends to kill another person when they drive drunk, for example; is it the intent that matters there?”

I’ll be first to admit this is semantics, but in view of the court, intent does matter. If you drive drunk and kill someone, you will be charged with manslaughter, not murder (in most states).

I guess I should have clarified in my comment that I understand there is a great deal of fetishizing and exoticism inherent in hard core babtywearing communities (and in the adoption community). But, I have read La Mala’s post several times ( I read her blog) and I do think it was an attack on white babywearing mothers and adoptive mothers. I’m not sure she left room for those of us who do not fetishize and did not “buy” us a “brown baby”.

Last point is, I have great respect for Maegan, and I like her writing style very much. I just don’t agree this time.

Posted 16 Feb 2008 at 8:01 pm ¶
Thalia wrote:

Thanks for your post, Maegan. Two aspects of babywearing that you criticized, fetishing/exoticism and consumerism, I do recognize among some parts of the babywearing community. And they deserve to be looked at critically. It’s frustrating that some readers seem to be interpreting this critique to mean all white babywearers do this, or that you shouldn’t wear your baby if you are white. I didn’t get that from your post at all. And it helps me understand why, as a white woman who wanted to try babywearing and could afford to buy a “stash” of carriers if she wanted to, I felt so compelled to buy used ones or try to make my own. I’ve noticed, too, that anytime someone compliments me on one of them, I feel uncomfortable until I mention that I bought it used or got it for free in a trade. It’s because I don’t want to be labeled as one of the those white women for whom having a nice looking carrier is all about status or fashion or trendiness or accumulating baby gear or whatever.

One of the carriers I own is a (used) Mayawrap ring sling. When I wear it, I’m trying to walk a fine line: knowing its roots in the rebozo and having some awareness about the ways rebozos were originally (and still used), and at the same time understanding that the particular sling I’m wearing is a creation of my capitalist American culture, which I bought because I liked the red and purple colors in the cloth, and which gives me no special appreciation or connection to any other culture but my own.

Posted 19 Feb 2008 at 12:09 pm ¶
Michelle wrote:

I think you missed the concept that not only do people around the world currently carry their babies, but ALL people around the world used to. Anthropologists believe that some sort of baby sling was one of the first “tools” invented by humans. Our babies cannot cling to us (we don’t have fur) like other primates. Women have always worked with their infants on their body. Just because American society has moved far away from what is natural in child rearing doesn’t mean that babywearing belongs to the “people of color” who still do it today. Some of us are trying to care for our babies in a more natural way because it is better for them. The fact that people obsess about colors and patterns of their slings is just the typical intrusion of commercialism that comes when there is money to be made. Slings don’t start at $70. I just looked and found some on sale for $32 and regular prices ones for $45.

Posted 19 Feb 2008 at 3:51 pm ¶
bubamaramama wrote:

Seeing all types of parents that wear their babies and breastfeed will hopefully show that it is not just for “poor” people. It is for parents that want the best for their babies. ”
from Previous Poster

Exactly, doing what’s best for your child isn’t a 3rd world, poor, or ‘brown’ person thing, nor is it a rich, educated, or white Westerner thing. It’s something every parent in the world wants to do. Why not help towards this end? A parent doing what is best or trying to do what is best for their child should not be attacked, especially just for borrowing an idea from someone else. A good, successful, child-friendly idea is a good thing, regardless of where we hear of it. A good parent is a good parent. Share and spread the good ideas toward that end. WWJD??

Posted 21 Feb 2008 at 12:22 pm ¶
bubamaramama wrote:

I got my baby carriers on the cheap too. One was a gift, another was purchased at a baby goods consignment shop for $10. It would have been $70 new. Keep your eyes open.
The strollers, buckets, swings, bouncy things, etc. that most modern Western parents of all skin colors use to avoid holding their children are much more than $10.

Posted 21 Feb 2008 at 12:27 pm ¶
Tracy wrote:

I might direct those commenting on the cost of slings and carriers here: http://www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/why.html

Posted 23 Feb 2008 at 6:22 pm ¶
Kim wrote:

While it is true that all cultures had devised various ways to carry their babies it is not all cultures that are being represented.Any google search for baby carriers or slings shows a wide variety of people of color carrying their babies.This includes names such as new natives, Maya slings,khangas, mei tai, and others. Most of these products re marketed and own by white people who by their own accounts were “inspired” by people in Asia, Africa, and South America. While baby carrying may be in their own cultural traditions the renewal in interests has clearly been the cultures of different PoCs.
The question of entitlement and what you have the right to do lay at the heart of white privilege and cultural appropriation.

Posted 26 Feb 2008 at 5:22 pm ¶
Donna wrote:

What’s wrong with spending $70 on a sling if that’s what you want to do? Criticizing people for not recognizing their own privilege is fine, but I don’t understand why someone with money to spend shouldn’t spend it how they choose.

Posted 27 Feb 2008 at 3:45 pm ¶
Katie wrote:

Just got here from the Erase Racism carnival. Your commenters’ comments about Irish babywear made me decide that if I ever end up having a baby to carry, I’ll at least go with my own culture’s heritage for the visual appearance of my babywear. Oh, sure, I might as well take advantage of having been blessed with knowledge from more cultures than my own forebearers knew and structure any babywear I make in the sturdiest way I’ve been exposed to…but this post has made me decide that apart from perhaps taking a tip on how to wrap it that happens to have its origins in non-white culture, my babywear will tell the world, “This is preserved from my culture, not ganked on account of an exoticism fetish!” when the world sees it.

The best way to do that will be material & print/pattern. Which, I imagine, will probably mean, “whatever I can come up with the cheapest.” (After recalculating price tags to internalize all the costs that were externalized to keep it low.) That’ll probably be from the thrift store and sewn from curtains from the 90’s.

Posted 29 Feb 2008 at 2:01 pm ¶
BMS wrote:

Honestly, it wasn’t until after I retired my “$3 from a yard sale” baby sling that I even knew there was a ‘babywearing community’ out there. I saw the sling and thought “Hmm, looks easier to figure out than a snuggli, and easier to fit on the commuter rail than a stroller. Looks good to me.” It just puzzles me why otherwise intelligent parents waste so much time on this little stuff. I just don’t have the energy to care if someone is wearing their baby for political/showoff/whatever reason. It’s a flippin sling. It keeps the baby off the floor. What is the big deal?

Posted 04 Mar 2008 at 10:27 pm ¶