Sorry, mother's milk belongs under wraps

GRRRRRR....this makes me a tad bit furious. Who are these nazis?

http://tinyurl.com/das4t

Sorry, mother's milk belongs under wraps
By JONNA SPILBOR
June 19, 2005

If I could be a cop for just one day, I wouldn't arrest people for
minor infractions like rolling through traffic lights at desolate,
late-night intersections. Instead, I would drive around in a paddy
wagon, filling it up with people who engage in activities that are
perfectly legal, but so utterly annoying they ought to be outlawed.

For example, there ought to be a law against making noise while
chewing soft foods, holding up a grocery line because you forgot the
milk and reclining your seat on trains and planes, unless the person
directly behind you is either (1) a stuffed animal or (2) completely
invisible.

Yet, it's simply a fact of life that humans will engage in a long
list of legal yet torturous behavior, leaving the rest of us little
choice but to scowl and bear it.

I'm here to say unequivocally, wholeheartedly, and with every ounce
of maternal instinct washing over my being like a prickly rash —
breast-feeding in public should not be one of them.

Bloated bosoms took to the streets of Manhattan en masse recently
when 200 lactating women, calling themselves "lactivists" collected
their hungry infants and staged a "nurse-in" in front of ABC's
television studios to protest a passing comment made by famed
journalist Barbara Walters.

Walters, while chatting with her coffee klatch on her daytime talk
show, "The View," casually mentioned how she felt "uncomfortable" on
a recent flight, having been seated next to a woman who was nursing
a
baby at her seat.

Other than cashing in her first-class ticket, there wasn't a darn
thing Babs could do about it. Federal law, as well as laws in at
least 35 states, allow nursing mothers to breast-feed wherever they
are otherwise lawfully situated. Restaurants, retail stores and yes,
airplane seats included.

Public suckling may be perfectly legal, but should it be?

In New York, for instance, which happens to be a very breast-
friendly
state, exposure laws make it a crime for a woman to bare that
portion
of her breast that is "below the top of the areola" unless she is
exposed for the purpose of breast-feeding.

The implied expectation of the law is this: The public has every
right to be uncomfortable, indignant and even call the police at the
sight of a bare-breasted woman basking in her bareness. But once a
woman adorns the same bare breast with a 10 pound hungry person, the
rest of us must gushingly accommodate her, or get the hell out of
the
way.

Just because you give a boob a job doesn't magically change
society's
long-ingrained attitudes about public nudity. Why then, does the
law —
and nursing mothers — expect the rest of us to embrace a stranger's
desire to express milk from her bosom while seated six inches from
our burrito?

I know what you're going to say. A baby's gotta eat. Sure. But until
your child can chew, he doesn't need to eat with the rest of us.

Look, I'm no prude, but I do think there are certain, perfectly
healthy activities that are simply too private for public
consumption. Pap smears do a lot of good too, but you won't catch me
having one in Macy's window.

One "lactivist" in attendance at the protest was quoted as
saying, "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."

Apparently, circular reasoning is the one negative side effect of
breast-feeding that "lactivists" don't talk about much. Personally,
I
no sooner want to observe a woman breast-feeding her baby in public,
than I would want to witness her conceiving her baby in public.
Forcing me into becoming an audience to a public showing for which I
didn't buy tickets, is an invasion of my rights — is it not?

Perhaps baby isn't too happy about it either. I imagine the bond
between mother and child, especially during the first year of life,
is a beautiful, magical force like none other.

If breast-feeding contributes to that bond, why would a mother want
to detract from the experience by doing it while walking the dog or
having her hair done? Just because the law allows you to, bonding
with baby is not something that should be multitasked.

Jonna M. Spilbor is a Rhinecliff-based attorney. Write her in care
of: Poughkeepsie Journal Opinion Page, P.O. Box 1231, Poughkeepsie,
NY, 12602-1231. Or in care of:
letterstoeditor@...

 

You know what the problem is, it's that society views breasts as sexual playthings. They are scantily plastered everywhere in magazines, television, etc., women are getting breast implants to increase the size to make them feel more sexy...it seems as though we are obsessed with breasts, forgetting what they were really put there for. Sex clouds function.

If someone doesn't feel comfortable with a woman breastfeeding in public, then they always have the option of looking the other way. I wish I myself would have adapted more of the mind-frame I have now, back when I was breastfeeding. Instead, I secluded myself away from squeamish eyes, banished myself to bathrooms, and spent a lot of time alone when company was over. I wish I would have been more assertive and just whipped it out right there.

 

Well that just pissed me off.


Writing a letter to the editor.

 

Here's the letter I wrote

Sorry, Ms. Spilbor has some deep seated issues.

Like most of this sexually repressed and depraved continent, she is obviously confused about the primary function of female mammary glands. Her attitude, unfortunately shared by a great number of people, is symptomatic of a public who doesn't blink when a busty woman orgasms over a sports car or a tall, cold beer, but suddenly becomes offended when a woman's body is nourishing an infant. Here's a newsflash. A woman's breast is designed to feed a baby, not to sell whiskey.
Not so long ago, pregnant women were confined out of sight, because the very sight of her pregnancy made people blush as they imagined the act that caused her fecundity. Are nursing women to remain confined, because of prudish, Victorian attitudes?
Comparing feeding a baby to a Pap smear or actually having sex only confirms her immaturity regarding the subject. Just because a body part may be enjoyed sexually doesn't make it a sexual organ. If that were the case, then we should cover our ears, toes, feet and neck, before someone with Ms. Spilbor's overactive imagination becomes offended.
No one is forcing Ms. Spilbor to watch a mother nursing an infant. The fact that she is unable to take her eyes off her while claiming she is offended is sort of, dare I say it? Sick.
I don't know how Ms. Spilbor's mother raised her, but where I come from, staring is considered exceedingly rude.

 

Wish I could have sat next to Baba Wawa....I would have introduced her to tandem nursing. My 3 year old and 16 month old would be happy to perform

 

I highly doubt any nursing mother takes her top completely off and shakes her breasts around for a moment (causing drops of milk to fall on innocent passers by) before allowing her baby to eat. Every nursing mama I've ever seen has been completely discreet about it. you never see anything more than a teeny bit of skin and the baby covers everything else!

 

I am breastfeeding and whenever i go out to a meeting or go shopping and my baby is hungry i just whip my boob out pop it in his mouth and kepp doing what i was doing. When my son was only 2 week old i went shopping with my mother, who just flew in from wiscosin, my son started to cry so i picked him up and fed him while shopping. The store manager had the nerve to come up to me and tell me (not ask ) to go in the restroom if i am to do that!!! just as he said that my mother came walking up and bitched him out, after she was finished i told him that i was not going to go to a secluded place just because i am nursing my son and that he should be embarassed and ashamed. my fiancee agreed with the manager and i had yelled at him too.

Seeing a woman breastfeed her child should not be something to be uncomfortable about it should be something that when you see it you are happy cuz you know that the child is get nourishment and will be healthy BUT people are so brain washed by the god dam media and so narrow minded that they cant get past the thought of seeing a women's bare breast as being nourishing.

 

LOL You mean Im the only one who takes her entire top off and jiggles her breasts all about before I latch my children on?

LOL that cracked me up!!! lol

 

I'm also one of those not-so-discreet nursers.


When my oldest was about 7 or 8 weeks old, I had to run out, to the grocery store or bank or something. I was standing in line, she was hungry, started rooting, than crying in earnest. I was trying to soothe her by bouncing her, but she wanted to eat and nothing else.
i was hoping to get her at least into the taxi, but she was screaming. I felt my face get hot, and I started getting nervous.
I felt a little tap on my shoulder, and an old lady said, "Give that baby her breast! She's hungry!"
suddenly, I realized how silly I was. I was drawing more attention to myself by letting her cry than if I had just lifeted my shirt and nursed her.

never again was I ashamed of nursing my baby in public. And I never ever threw a blanket over their little heads either. haha.

 

A few days ago I was at a Day Out With Thomas. We were standing in line waiting for our turn to ride on Thomas. The lady next to me was franticly looking around for a place to feed her crying infant and still not lose her place in line. Some women near her said, "Well there are so many children here." I pointed to a bench near us and told her to go ahead. Believe me those kids were much more interested in that big blue train than they were her breasts. She sat down and fed her baby and then got on the train with a happy little one.

Kathi

 

FYI, I sent an email to "letters to the editor," but also to Kathleen
Norton, the journal's public editor, because from my experience at the
paper, I know that letters to the editor can just fall through the
cracks and I wanted the "higher-ups" to see it too.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/services/pubeditor.shtml

She already wrote me back. Nice to see that.

"Thanks for you feedback on this column. I will forward your comments
to
the editor of that section.

If you would like this to appear as a letter to the editor, please let
me know. I'm sure many people agreed with you.

Kathy Norton"

Maybe the rest of you who wrote letters to the editor should send them
to her as well.

Amy

 

Where are you located and what store was this? There needs to be a nurse-in organized for that place. What the store manager did was absolutely unacceptable and I'd look into the laws that are in place for your state when it comes to breastfeeding. Here's a site for finding the laws where you're at:

PDF VERSION= http://www.house.gov/maloney/issues/breastfeeding/CRS_Report_on_State_Breastfeeding.pdf#search='Public%20Breastfeeding%20Laws%20by%20State'

WEBPAGE FROM THE LLL= http://www.lalecheleague.org/LawBills.html

 

I can tell just by reading this article that the writer is the type of anti-mother femnist that I hate. Her stupidity is just as bad as the people who think that anyone who breast feeds their baby beyond the first year is doing so because it gives them sexual gratification.

 

Brighid-

That was a lovely little story! Very supportive! Thanks! You're the best!

 

This mindset makes me so sad.

On the brighter side, we just got a bill passed in Ohio prohibiting store owners and others from harrassing a mother for breastfeeding her baby or asking her to leave or cover-up. It states that a woman can nurse her baby anywhere that mothers and babys are permited. This comes after 7 years of fighting for a bill in Ohio, which was one of only 12 states not to have one, in response to a law suite againest walmart for asking a breastfeeding mother to leave. By the way, walmart won that law suite!

We recently had a nurse-in at a local deli owned by one of the representatives that was againest the bill. We were very polite and drew a lot of media attention to his deli as well as to our cause. He changed his mind about breastfeeding mothers and who knows but what he may have swayed the vote in our favor!

 

"Kathleen, you'are such a prude!"

Sorry, it's a Degrassi High thing.

None of this suprises me. I live near Poughkeepsie, and the journal is one of the worst news papers within a 50 mile radius.

I am not a fan of columnists as a whole. I mean, think about some of the people who write columns. To name a few:

Cal Thomas
Ann Coulter
Bill O'Rielly
Jerry Falwell

As far as breastfeeding goes, a baby's gotta eat. People are just going to have to grow up and accept that. G-d gave us "the girls" (to quote Whoopi) for a reason. I never had a problem looking away. I don't know why everyone else does.

 

I think I have already written this womyn an email. I need to look and find out if this was a very recent editorial, or if it is a bit older. If it's a few months or more older, I've already written her and gotten NO response.

I don't beleive womyn like this are "feminists" at all.

IMO, if you don't like to see a baby nurse, don't look.

Mamas, I am so happy to see this entire thread filled with similar concerns. Not "Well my sister in law breastfed and her kid is the sickliest, brattiest kid I know. And she sprays milk all over the place and it makes me sick. Can't she just put it in a bottle, so she doesn't offend people?"

Ahhhhh, Hip Forum Mamas, I love you all.

 

that woman is ridiculous. No one would be happy being told to go and eat in the toilet, why should babies have to?

 

Hehe...I love the imagery...

Maggie, we love you too!