A woman began to breastfeed in the Science World museum when a volunteer directed her to the nursing room. Because Kristen George was with her 23-month-old and her 8-week-old nursling, she stayed put, keeping an eye on one child while soothing the infant.
I’ve always felt a little self-conscious, so I usually pump and bring a bottle, but I had forgotten it this time.
George was in the section of the museum specifically for infants and kids, and says she was wearing a baggy shirt that covered her. She says she was approached by a young man who asked her to move. Then when she responded that she wasn’t “doing anything wrong,” he said what she was doing was,
Morally wrong
His words were loud enough to catch the attention of other parents, now making something otherwise mostly overlooked into a spectacle.Fabulous.
In Michigan City, Indiana, the mother of a breastfed 11-month-old was asked to leave an Olive Garden restaurant after she refused to give her baby lunch in the bathroom.
Margaret Naas said her daughter Katie wanted to eat shortly after she’d ordered. She said she pulled half of her halter top down to feed the baby.
Soon, the manager (a woman) cited other customer complaints and offered her use of the restroom to feed her child.
A lactation consultant from the nearby WIC, Tammy Pray, who contacted the media regarding this situation, told The News-Dispatch,
That’s disgusting! Who would want to feed their children in a bathroom?
Not only that, it should not be compared to other natural functions of the body, like urination, defecation, or even–recently heard by yours truly–decomposition. Because poop isn’t food, despite what your dog might think. Breastmilk is.
Unfortunately, many people are still ignorant of this fact and continue to whine about mamas feeding their children in public. So I thought I’d share a few counterpoints, just for the anti-breastfeeding-in-public crowd.
Starting with this:
See, it’s not so much about a woman’s right to breastfeed in public or her supposed “need” to expose herself. It should also be viewed as the child’s right to eat.
The poor guy just wanted to watch a baseball game. And then this selfish, nasty woman had the gall to–gasp!–breastfeed in the seat in front of him. Oh, the horror!
So he did what any sane representative for a radio program would do: He Tweeted his disgust. He made sure to toss a few choice words in there, like:
‘crazy‘, ‘no shame‘, ‘rude‘. And don’t forget that ever-popular suggestion, ‘Can’t she go in back?‘
But this so-called radio personality, Tim Mihalsky, had standards, folks. It’s indecent to breastfeed in front of him. That is, unless…
if she was hot, it woulda been a different tweet
But people were watching. It’s the magic of Twitter. Use a term, and anyone following that thread can watch your foot-in-mouth disease as it gets progressively worse. That’s where he came up against Feminist Breeder, a former rocker mom who is from, as DJ articulate said,
One photograph shows a half-naked couple embracing with their newborn baby at the breast.
Another features a pregnant woman breastfeeding her four-year-old daughter after a bath.
And one shows a pretty brunette in a revealing bra putting on make-up while breastfeeding her son.
These tasteful, beautiful shots are used to show it’s absolutely hip and “sexy” to breastfeed, while raising money for the Cafe. And it all started with a tiny little £100 donation.
A woman in the Red Hook, Brooklyn Ikea store reported being sent to the family washroom because she was breastfeeding publicly–though covered–in the store.
She and her 6 ½ month old daughter then had to wait in line at this facility, causing the hungry babe to get very upset.
The unnamed mother posted her experience on a Yahoo! group listserv, where she said that she’s going to file a formal compliant. New York law says that women are allowed to breastfeed anywhere in public or private.
When you were in high school, were you in one of those classes where you had to carry around a fake “baby”? An egg or other food item? You and your partner would dress it and take turns caring for it through band or basketball practices. It was to teach us the responsibility it takes to have children.
Because that sack of flour in a basket did a really convincing impression of a screaming infant. Maybe a bit more realistic would have been helpful.
A Melbourne high school canceled a live breastfeeding demo for a life cycles class. Sarah Simmonds, a volunteer from the Australian Breastfeeding Association’s community education program, was to breastfeed her 4-month-old son in front of the class at Hume Central Secondary College in Broadmeadows.
But when she arrived, she was surprised to discover that the teens in the class didn’t have parental permission, so they couldn’t watch the breastfeeding demo.
Because–you know–we wouldn’t want to expose our teens to the indecency of natural infant food, straight from tap.
I’ve used this Universal Breastfeeding Symbol before. But I didn’t even realize I was a “lactivist” until I started getting frustrated about the breastfeeding in public issue. Who knew that an infant eating the food that was made for it could be an issue?!
But I didn’t stop to think about how the symbol might be used in public. As in:
Hey you! With the breasts and starving child! You. Must. Go. Here.
Here’s the thing about breastfeeding in public. There is not a woman I know who does it to be an exhibitionist. Ever. At all. (Don’t argue with me here, folks.) We do it to…ummm…feed our children?
So the use of the symbol: What is the proper way to use this welcoming sign?
In more news that sounds like a joke, a UK woman was stopped from breastfeeding her 11-week-old son at a public pool.
Laura Whotton was at the John Carroll Leisure Centre in Nottingham and started to breastfeed her infant near the pool while her 4-year-old son swam. She was stopped by a staff member, who cited the food and drink ban.
Sure, the infant was technically “eating”. But I doubt that was the actual reasoning behind the rebuke.
People in bikinis were showing more skin and breast than I was.
I’m all for breastfeeding, yo. Even in public. Really, wherever a baby needs to eat, she should.
However, being pro-breastfeeding seems to me to be a matter of good sense. Then some woman comes along and loses her senses, and it makes you wonder.
A man in Kettering, OH (outside of Dayton) called the police after he saw a woman breastfeeding while she was driving. Not only that, but she was talking on the cell, too. There are unconfirmed reports that she was simultaneously chewing gum.
Augh. It’s happened again.
