Public Breastfeeding

I'm told that Bawba Wubba, a.k.a. Barbara Walters, made some remark on The View about how she was surprised and uncomfortable with a woman who was breastfeeding next to her on a recent plane ride. First off she's on The View now, how low can you go? What made her go this route? But I digress...

The NY Times covered a lactivist demonstration outside ABC's headquarters on Monday afternoon. About 200 women showed up with signs, babies and some, breast feeding.

They stood nursing their babies in the unmistakably public venue of Columbus Avenue and West 67th Street. They held signs reading, "Shame on View," and "Babies are born to be breastfed." Ms. Walters, who remarked a few weeks ago on the show that the sight of a woman breast-feeding on an airplane next to her had made her uncomfortable, said through a spokesman that "it was a particular circumstance and we are surprised that it warrants a protest."

Me, I don't have a problem with it. I don't really see a reason for there to be a problem with it in general. But some do.

"It's nothing against breast-feeding, it's about exposing yourself for people who don't want to see it," said Scotty Stroup, the owner of a restaurant in Round Rock, Tex., where a nursing mother was refused service last fall.

But the new generation of lactivists compare discomfort with seeing breast-feeding in public to discomfort with seeing interracial couples or gays holding hands.

"It's like any other prejudice. They have to get used to it," said Rebecca Odes, co-founder of "The New Mom" blog, who attended the ABC protest. "People don't want to see it because they feel uncomfortable with it, and they feel uncomfortable with it because they don't see it."

I wonder if lactivists would have a problem with me, or anyone, taking a photograph of them while breast feeding in public.

Comments

[Mike]

What's odd is the reality of what they're offended by. If you've ever seen someone breastfeeding a baby you'll know that there is usually less skin visible than you'd see on an average summer afternoon along Kelly Drive. People seem to be offended by the *idea* that the baby is nursing a woman's breast. I have *never* seen a women "expose" herself while feeding -- it's just not how it works.

As for taking pictures? Some would be offended, some not. Just like some people don't want you walking up and taking pictures of them eating dinner. It's not hypocritical, it's personal. And it has nothing to do with breastfeeding.

[albert]

I wasn't trying to insinuate that public breast feeders would be hypocritical if they didn't want their picture taken. I think I worded that last sentence. I see public breast feeding as more like playing a guitar in the park. You're bound to get more attention than say, if you were just sitting there, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with what you're doing. But I'd take a photo of a person playing a guitar quicker than I would of a woman breast feeding her child. But I probably shouldn't treat them differently. My understanding is that once you're out in a public space, you're fair game. Granted, if a person were uncomfortable and asked me not to, of course I wouldn't.

[Jane]

A lot of women use a cloth to cover themselves (and the child) when breastfeeding, so nothing is exposed. A lot of women will also excuse themselves to a more private space, if possible. However, sometimes that isn't possible. None of the women I've known who breastfed did so to get attention. When my kids were infants I wasn't comfortable feeding them in public so we didn't go out much. The shopping mall closest to me lost some money because it would have been a nice climate controlled place to go hang out, just to get out of the house, with the baby, but the place they had designated for breastfeeding was a modified toilet stall with a hard marble-like bench instead of a toilet. No way was I going to sit there and feed the baby. Other women would just find an out of the way bench but I just couldn't do it. Babs should know better.

As for pictures, I wouldnt' want someone taking my picture at any time without asking my permission, but that's just me.