Monday
Aug182008
Nursing in public incidents a sign of progress?
Monday, August 18, 2008
If you've been reading the newspaper, watching the news, or checking out blogs, you've probably seen a lot of recent coverage of situations where women were confronted for nursing in public. I wrote about a few of them on my blog, including the Guelph swimming pool incident, a United Airlines incident, and a summary of all airline incidents that I am aware of. A number of other recent nursing in public incidents, including H&M in Vancouver, La Senza in Windsor, and McDonalds in Kentucky, were written about in a post today on Breastfeeding 123.
I commented on that post and wanted to add my thoughts on the topic here.
When I read about these types of incidents, I get upset. It makes me mad that women face that type of discrimination when they are just trying to feed their babies. It makes me worried that I may also be subject to that type of discrimination one day while out with my kids. It makes me concerned that an incident like that might happen in the presence of my children, including my nursing daughter who understands more and more these days and my very easily influenced son who may take away unpleasant messages from a situation like that.
It is ridiculous that these types of situations occur at all. First, breastfeeding is the best and most natural way to feed a baby. If it is acceptable to bottle feed in public, then it should certainly be acceptable to breastfeed in public. Second, I cannot say this better than Elaine, so I'll just quote her: "anyone who is opposed to breastfeeding in public places is a sexually perverted, ignorant, moronic, emotionally immature, ... stupid, obnoxious, and sexist bigot who hates women and kids. They really need to grow up and overcome their obnoxious hang-up about breastfeeding."
But, when I do hear about these nursing in public confrontations, I see a glimmer of hope. Allow me to explain.
I am going to assume that these types of confrontations have been happening all along. However, when breastfeeding was not as popular (when formula was the norm and considered "better" and more "modern"), these situations were probably less frequent because not as many women were breastfeeding. Also, in the past, women were probably not as aware of their rights as a breastfeeding mother and there weren't as many laws in place protecting breastfeeding mothers, so rather than fight back when asked to cover up, leave, go to a private space, nurse in a toilet stall, women probably reluctantly did what they were told.
So I see these confrontations as a sign of progress because I think they must mean that:
And hopefully soon the message will sink in and these situations will go away again. This time not because mothers are not nursing or are hiding to nurse, but because they are confidently nursing in public and knowing that they are fully within their rights to do so.
I commented on that post and wanted to add my thoughts on the topic here.
When I read about these types of incidents, I get upset. It makes me mad that women face that type of discrimination when they are just trying to feed their babies. It makes me worried that I may also be subject to that type of discrimination one day while out with my kids. It makes me concerned that an incident like that might happen in the presence of my children, including my nursing daughter who understands more and more these days and my very easily influenced son who may take away unpleasant messages from a situation like that.
It is ridiculous that these types of situations occur at all. First, breastfeeding is the best and most natural way to feed a baby. If it is acceptable to bottle feed in public, then it should certainly be acceptable to breastfeed in public. Second, I cannot say this better than Elaine, so I'll just quote her: "anyone who is opposed to breastfeeding in public places is a sexually perverted, ignorant, moronic, emotionally immature, ... stupid, obnoxious, and sexist bigot who hates women and kids. They really need to grow up and overcome their obnoxious hang-up about breastfeeding."
But, when I do hear about these nursing in public confrontations, I see a glimmer of hope. Allow me to explain.
I am going to assume that these types of confrontations have been happening all along. However, when breastfeeding was not as popular (when formula was the norm and considered "better" and more "modern"), these situations were probably less frequent because not as many women were breastfeeding. Also, in the past, women were probably not as aware of their rights as a breastfeeding mother and there weren't as many laws in place protecting breastfeeding mothers, so rather than fight back when asked to cover up, leave, go to a private space, nurse in a toilet stall, women probably reluctantly did what they were told.
So I see these confrontations as a sign of progress because I think they must mean that:
- More women are breastfeeding
- More women are breastfeeding in public
- More women are aware of their rights as a breastfeeding mother
- More women are fighting back when they face discrimination
And hopefully soon the message will sink in and these situations will go away again. This time not because mothers are not nursing or are hiding to nurse, but because they are confidently nursing in public and knowing that they are fully within their rights to do so.
Reader Comments (5)
I think your list is accurate-- more nursing, more confidence to nurse in public, etc-- leads to more incidents. The one thing that irks me about it though is that I worry about those mothers who are not as confident and sure of themselves. I know how I would react. I know my rights. I will assert them, but I fear for those mothers, especially new mothers, who have a bad experience. I worry that they will give up and retreat out of fear. I'm not sure all of my babbling makes sense, but when I hear these stories, the fear for others is what goes through my mind!
Like Maria, I agree with the accuracy of your list. As a new mother, it is scary sometimes and I have been intimidated by strangers and friends so posts like this are reassuring. I have stood my ground when it comes to breastfeeding but it has not always been easy.
On a positive note, a no some professional schools like (Medicine, Law) have recently made arrangements for women who need to pump during some of the longer exams. I think this is a good step in the right direction as well.
That is great Lu. I remember reading last year about a woman that was denied that opportunity. I hope her case spurred them to make some changes.
[...] breastfeeding moms will soon be in that situation too. As I’ve said before, I think all of the media coverage and other attention to breastfeeding discrimination is a sign of progress. I hope that breastfeeding discrimination will one day be a thing of the past and a mom listening [...]
[...] breastfeeding moms will soon be in that situation too. As I’ve said before, I think all of the media coverage and other attention to breastfeeding discrimination is a sign of progress. I hope that breastfeeding discrimination will one day be a thing of the past and a mom listening [...]