Re-posted with permission.  I don't know if this letter was printed.  In
view of what you said earlier, Carissa, it probably wasn't.  The Star
doesn't purport to have balanced coverage?

Barb

>
> Letter to the editor, Indianapolis Star
>
> RE: Breast-feeding moms lack legal protection (August 10).
>
> Whatever Indiana's laws about breast-feeding mothers, women everywhere
> are obliged to breast-feed "discreetly," fussing with clothes or towels
> and hiding their nipples while their child clamors for a meal. They must
> still fend off stares and criticisms from others who make this life-
> giving act difficult. Often they must leave the room. Should they expose
> a little too much a little too long, they are treated as criminals.
>
> We need to destigmatize women's breasts altogether, not just those in
> lactation. Although the convenience and comfort of exposed breasts may be
> most obvious for feeding, they apply on many other occasions, especially
> in hot weather. Exempting breast-feeding mothers from indecency charges
> indicates that men's breasts are lawful but women's basically are not. It
> also discriminates against women for being female. That goes against the
> Constitution's 14th amendment.
>
> Indiana's official attitude towards women's breasts is among the worst in
> the country. Women don't breast-feed enough, because of the intimidating
> position that their breasts belong to men. Women should be empowered with
> the same choice over breast exposure that men have. Then debates over
> public breast-feeding will be unnecessary, and America will be healthier
> psychologically as well as nutritionally.
>
> --
> Dr. Paul Rapoport
> Topfree Equal Rights Association
> PO Box 81128 FGPO
> Ancaster ON  L9G 4X1
> Canada
>
> www.tera.ca
> [log in to unmask]
>
> (ph. 905 304 4836 / 905 515 9838)
>
>

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