• Sweden edition

Swedish 'milkman' loses breastfeeding battle

Published: 1 Dec 09 15:33 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/23592/20091201/

Ragnar Bengtsson, 26, has failed in his high profile bid to pump forth milk from his breasts. But there is some consolation for the self-styled "Milkman", who is winging his way to the United States this week for an appearance on The Tyra Banks Show.

Bengtsson's milk race began with a bang in early September as he set about pumping his breasts on a three-hourly basis. The unorthodox sight of a young dad with a machine pressed to his nipples became part of daily life at Stockholm University, as the economics student endeavoured to do his bit for gender equality.

If men could breastfeed their babies, the argument went, then women could rejoin the workplace more quickly, safe in the knowledge that their newborns were receiving the proper nourishment from their proud dads.

But ultimately, the experiment failed, with Bengtsson unable to live up to the name of his blog: 'The Milkman - One Drop at a Time'. On Tuesday at 9pm, he returns to the TV8 studio and the Aschberg show where it all began for a final look back at a trial considered intriguing and brave by some, but sickening and unnatural by many others.

"We never expected the enormous reaction we got; a lot of people were almost blinded with disgust," said Magnus Talib, a member of the Aschberg editorial team that has followed the day-to-day progress of the Milkman.

News of the would-be breastfeeding dad spread quickly, with media outlets from 40-50 countries taking up the tale. Having reported on the experiment right from the outset, The Local has received countless requests from foreign media for contact details for Bengtsson, most recently from The Tyra Banks Show. As always, the inquiry was passed on to the producers of Aschberg, who in turn informed Bengtsson that he would be flown to meet talk show hostess Tyra Banks later this week.

"Ragnar just said, 'oh cool'. Personally I would have crapped myself," said Talib of the prospect of being flown to the United States to appear on one of the world's most popular talk shows.

Bengtsson, who was unavailable for comment on Tuesday, was reportedly also pleased to finally be able to put his pump back on the shelf.

"All he got was sore breasts," said Talib.

Paul O'Mahony
news@thelocal.se
08 656 6513

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17:19 December 1, 2009 by DeepFriedTwinky
ok..he got his 15 minutes of fame. . .lets move on!
17:24 December 1, 2009 by vladd777
Thank U Lord!
17:37 December 1, 2009 by Nemesis
I knew there was more to this than was obvious.

He is getting a free flight to the USA to appear on the Tyra Banks show.

He is getting a free holiday.

Smart way to go about it. I have to admire his original method of getting a free USA holiday.
18:20 December 1, 2009 by mkvgtired
"prospect of being flown to the United States to appear on one of the world's most popular talk shows."

Really, I get to watch an interview with this man on prime time?!?! Up until now I only got to read about him. I can hardly contain my excitement. This is like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years all rolled into one!!
18:35 December 1, 2009 by peropaco
@Nemesis, you are right. we have to hand it to him for his ingenious way to get a free Xmas shopping vacation to NY. business class ticket and probably a five star hotel?
19:17 December 1, 2009 by DeepFriedTwinky
No way....really, business class?!?! LOL. Very true. . .smart way to go about it!
19:43 December 1, 2009 by roodkapje
Still want to know did he produce any, even a drop of milk?
19:48 December 1, 2009 by peropaco
@ roodkapje, not even enough for a caffè macchiato. LOL
20:28 December 1, 2009 by jack sprat
Just waiting to see which is the first Swedish guy to get himself a silicone breast implant.

As soon as he first appears in public together with outsize cup and bra,I have little doubt that the whole male population of Sweden will be stampeding to the nearest cosmetic surgery.

Must be a good business opportunity in there somewhere methinks....lol.
20:32 December 1, 2009 by Nemesis
Yup

Tyra Banks show, first class flight plus 5 star hotel is standard, apparently.

This guy has really pulled a brilliant way of getting a holiday.

Original thinking always works well.
20:50 December 1, 2009 by Osokin
he's about to be ridiculed for posterity in front of millions of tv viewers for a free holiday, how original, inventive and resourceful hurrrrrrr
21:07 December 1, 2009 by Soft Boiled
So hes not such a great tit after all ;)
21:42 December 1, 2009 by spy
The majority of Swedish men are breast-feeding sissies - where's the news here???
01:35 December 2, 2009 by double concerto
Doesn't look very "Swedish" to me!!!
05:16 December 2, 2009 by Chuy
I don't even know what to say other than..."why?"
12:27 December 2, 2009 by double concerto
Ever heard of a chameleon???
14:55 December 2, 2009 by Bensonradar
It's a kind-of "dog bites man" [no news value], but "man bites dog" [excellent news value].
17:15 December 2, 2009 by DAVID T
He should go for a sex change - he really want's to be a woman like most swedish men
17:43 December 2, 2009 by martell
Seems like the ongoing Swedish womens libbers brainwash is showing final effects on the citizens now.
23:29 December 2, 2009 by Authentica
I was about to puke and then I read mkvgtired's comment, so now I'm ROFLMAO
03:51 December 3, 2009 by cheribob54
Can you say Freak?!!!
08:29 December 4, 2009 by uunbeliever
You people are morons. Someone trying to explore the reality of "equality" and you call him a freak. Not only are most swedes xenophobic but now I can add ignorant to their descriotion.
08:48 December 4, 2009 by mkvgtired
uunbeliever, the "equality" a society can provide does not include physical equality. As much as you would like to believe otherwise there are still two predominant sexes; male and female. If you want everyone to be physically equal you will have to start passing out estrogen to every guy you meet and testosterone to every woman. This still would not change the fact that they have different organs (it has something to do with how babies are made, but we will save that for the advanced class).
22:41 December 5, 2009 by wenddiver
I am ussually very anti-radical Islam, but when they finish taking over Sweden, hopefully they will see the wisdom ofpoutting breastfeading men in burkas too.
13:17 December 6, 2009 by Newyork-Växjö
This is very sick this gay is trying to be something which God did not asign him this job to do. Breast feeding is the Mother job and this idiot should understand that it is mother's job . He can help his wife with cleaning,cooking,

this is so sick and so many sick losers also support these sort of action.
13:20 December 6, 2009 by Per Johansson52
He looks not Swede but his name?
13:24 December 6, 2009 by Newyork-Växjö
............... Guy*
13:36 December 6, 2009 by Per Johansson52
If you chat with Swedish girls they usually type: Guy as Gay or Sweet as Sweat.

I wonder if you are girl Newyork-Vaxjo?
18:03 December 18, 2009 by geofare
@mkvgtired

What about all the millions of intersexed people out there in the world? What about the roughly 7500 women in the U.S. alone who were born with XY chromosomes yet who are biologically female, and the roughly same amount of men who were born with XX chromosomes who are biologically male? That's not to speak of the rest of the world. They used to think that having XX or XY was the deciding factor but now know it is not. There are a dozen or so genes that are needed for a fetus to begin producing testosterone which thus causes it to develop into a male baby. Sometimes those genes are there even if the fetus has XX chromosomes and sometimes those genes are not even if the fetus has XY chromosomes. And what about the millions of transgendered people in the world? I hate to break it to you but reality doesn't fit your uninformed, narrow-minded preconception of a male/female dichotomy. Not to mention how much of what we refer to as "male" and "female" are solely social constructions.

@jack sprat

There was a guy in the U.S. who got a boob job as a dare from one of this friends. This was years ago. His friend bet him money to keep them in for about a year or so. He won the bet and then left them in. He said he liked having them. He was on Letterman's show. Looks like those "normal" Americans beat the Swedes to it, eh?

@Newyork-Växjö

God didn't give us wings but we still soar through the sky. God didn't give us gills but we still swim underwater with scuba tanks. I'm sure you have no problem with human beings traveling by airplane and going for a nice scuba dive every now and then. God didn't give us the physical strength to construct steel and concrete sky scrapers but we still managed to devise the technology to do so. It would probably be a wise move to extricate your head from your ass. After all, if God had wanted you to have your head up your ass, he would have put it there in the first place.
23:36 March 12, 2010 by janeway
geofare:

You took the words right out of my mouth!
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