On Sep 25, 2005, at 5:34 PM, Pam Jaiswal wrote:
> please consider enligthening Slim.
>
> http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=48920
This is what I wrote:
"I think you should behave towards a breastfeeding mom the same way
you would towards a mom feeding her child any other way. It's safe to
assume that a mom breastfeeding her child in a public place like a
restaurant waiting area is comfortable with other people seeing her
do it. She doesn't consider it a private moment, and you don't need
to either. Say hello, say "How are you?", say "Man, can that kid eat!"
"I think that discomfort you felt is common, and I think it's a big
part of the reason some people are opposed to public breastfeeding.
They just don't know whether it's okay to look. It is okay! Look,
comment, ask questions. When I'm breastfeeding my son in public, I
try to keep my head up, look around, make eye contact with people,
smile. If people know it's okay to look, they won't feel so
uncomfortable seeing women breastfeeding their children, and maybe
eventually public breastfeeding won't be such a controversial issue."
...
I really do think that's the problem for a lot of people. They say
they're supportive of breastfeeding and seem like they really are,
yet they're "uncomfortable" with women breastfeeding in public. I
think it's because they just don't know whether they're supposed to
avert their eyes. Etiquette tells them not to look at a woman's
chest, but they worry that avoiding looking will seem judgmental or
rude.
Maybe we need some kind of public service message campaign along the
lines of, "It's okay to look!" :)
Leanne Soylemez
breastfeeding mom, frequent ponderer of the breastfeeding-in-public
issue
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