Pearl writes:
>Personally I am disgusted by babies/children dragging around  bottles of
>who knows what, that are at risk for bacterial
>proliferation/contamination  for hours, that they may spray on me if they
>come within two feet of me, and sliming me with their pacifiers....
>Is it OK to say this, or will people be made to feel guilty.....

ROFLOL.  Pearl, you expressed my sentiments exactly.  I wonder what would
happen at Sears, or a restaurant, if one of us complained about a mother
bottle-feeding her baby in public.  If we said "I really find that
offensive", would the powers that be be SO CONCERNED about not offending us,
their customers, that they would ask the other customer to cease and desist,
or at least go to the restroom or a private room?  After all, as Diane
Wiessinger and Marsha Walker have so eloquently taught us, bottle-feeding is
dangerous to children's health.  I personally don't like to see mothers
abusing or harming their children, in any way, whether it be screaming and
spanking them and yanking on their arms, or driving around with the toddler
on their lap, or (as I saw yesterday) the two year old in the back of the
pick-up truck.  I had to pull over, as I couldn't stand watching this truck
in front of me -- I was SURE the child was going to tumble out and get run
over, possibly by me.

Why should women who are feeding their children (of any age) the normal,
natural, HEALTHY way, be made to feel that it is akin to sex or defecation?
It's EATING!!!  I think people should just smile and say "I'm *feeding* my
baby, and we're both fine right here."

Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Nutrition
Texas A&M University
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