A woman who is breastfeeding in public already has a
Cee Miller wrote:
A woman who is breastfeeding in public already has a fussy baby to attend to,
and the last thing she needs to be worried about is offending some misguided
soul who objects to seeing a baby being fed in the manner nature designed so
perfectly. If I had my way, women would
feel free to be as indiscreet as they need to be in order to get that baby
fed! If that was the way things were
done, no one bat an eye when they saw a breastfeeding baby because they would
realize IT IS THE NORM.
In the US,
and, I guess, much of the rest of the world, breasts have been so associated with
adult, genitally focused sexuality that the sense of their primary function has
been lost. For people in whom breasts equate to adult sexuality, the sight of a baby at the
breast makes them intensely uncomfortable, approaching the taboo of pedophilia. If the
use of a nursing cover makes them more comfortable, I suspect it is because
they can¢t see the baby as much as not seeing the breast.
Decency has been turned on its head. People oppose nursing
in public out of a sense of decency because their concept of breasts has been
perverted. Perversion is defined as diverting something from its primary
function to a lesser, secondary function, as has been done by making breasts
primarily for adult sexual pleasure rather than seeing them first as baby
nurturers. Maher equated nursing in public to masturbation, showing that
nursing a baby as nurturing and feeding is largely lost to him. It is the taboo
against pedophilia that makes the sight of breastfeeding seem wrong.
Another indication that it is a baby in conjunction with the
breast that is the problem is that the flaunting of breasts in other contexts
that is acceptable. Maher and others are not distressed by clothes, clearly
designed to be erotic, that make breasts very prominent, reveal a great deal of
skin, or let the shape of the nipple show. If it was a modesty issue, a great
deal of clothing would be criticized. Instead it is the baby at the breast that
is not accepted.
The pictures that I saw from the Appleby¢s nurse-out put breastfeeding
in the normal, appropriate, family oriented context. We need a great deal more
of that sort of exposure. I predict that nursing in public will remain an issue
until enough people are familiar enough with breastfeeding to reframe their
concepts of what breasts are for.
Alice Roddy, LLLL
Nursing is the biological norm for mothers and babies. It is a relationship that provides stress reducing hormones to the mother as well as stimulation, connection, and protection from illness to the baby. It even feeds the baby.
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