As we were shopping this weekend in Oklahoma, which in my opinion, is probably one of the most conservative states in the US, Bean got hungry. We found a nice comfy chair, and I nursed her. No big deal. I'll admit, I was a tiny bit apprehensive at first, since I was nursing in a crowded store without a blanket in sight... but I didn't even get a dirty look! Maybe that makes me a lucky one, but man... breastfeeding in public has been a non-issue so far. I don't think most people even realize what's going on, and once they do, they normally just look away.
So what do you think? Breastfeeding in public: scandal or whatev?
Oh, and the closest to a nursing-in-public picture I could find... Bean, totally asleep after a very big lunch in Tahlequah, Oklahoma the weekend of Cherokee National Holiday... Yeah, nobody cared then either.
4 comments:
Dude, breastfeeding is disgusting and unnatural. You are such a sick and twisted 'ho.
Just kiddin'! NIP should be the norm, not bottle full of chemicals while baby is still in the bucket seat. I've never had a problem, but then again this next week is xmas and I will be NIP with my dads side of the family. The ones with implants, who think breasts are only for getting your man in the mood. Woof.
Personally -
I can understand that it would make some people uncomfortable. We KNOW that the country sexualizes breasts, and just because there is a child to feed doesn't mean that people are going to up and stop thinking that. Can we work to change that? YES, and I hope we can. But doing it as a "protest" just makes it seem controversial and something to get up in a tizzy about.
I would be uncomfortable nursing in public, only if I couldn't keep myself covered. I just think that's a courtesy. I don't like to see men in public without a shirt, and I don't want to be in public with a boob hanging out, working or not. That's my personal preference.
I think its one of those things where you just have to start working to get the image into the public conciousness...not in a combative way, but in a way that makes it what it is - natural. Case in point: I went to old navy one day, and a lady was walking around with one of those sort of sarongy wraps on with her baby in it. It wasn't until I was stuck behind them in the check out line that I realized the bottom of her shirt was kind of hiked up, and then realized she was nursing. I found that absolutely acceptable and appropriate. I think I would have been put off had she just been standing there with a boob hanging out of her shirt. I'm sorry - but it's the way I feel. I wouldn't say anything to anyone if they were doing it, but I would find it bothersome.
Sorry - I hope that doesn't start some flame war on your blog!
Nursing in public was a piece of cake for me. I nursed Sophie at the Burger King in Benton, the Outback Steakhouse in Conway, at the Fort Worth Zoo, and at the highest point in Rocky Mountain National Park...I forget the actual town name. If I had it to do over I'd have trained Sophie to nurse with a blanket over her head, but she hated that. Instead I just unhooked the nuring bra and hiked up my teeshirt on that side. The baby herself hid any nekkidness I might have displayed.
I think most people are going to be willing to leave you alone to nurse, especially if you're sitting there with your husband, as I was in most cases. Only time anyone ever said anything to me was at the Rocky Mountains, because the only place I could find to nurse was the bench just inside the door of the busy visitor's center, just me and Sophie. Few people saw me because I was in the corner. But this one woman saw me, nudged her husband, pointed me out and said...
..."Look at her! Isn't that sweet? Good for her!"
:)
Man, you need to get a syndicated LJ feed for this blog. I keep forgetting to look over here.
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