Breast-Feeding in Public

  • not here anymore

    not here anymore (150)

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    @ Kurtni
    I know! I didn't even think about buying one. I can barely afford good REGULAR bras.

    And that's definitely the best option, lol. Then you only get the good stuff.
    July 5th, 2012 at 01:57am
  • bless

    bless (100)

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    As an expecting mother, as well as a woman, I feel very offended when people put down the idea of breast feeding in public. Boobs are boobs. When it comes down to it breasts are meant to produce milk when a woman is pregnant, nothing else really. We eat when we're hungry, babies should not be denied that privilege.
    July 5th, 2012 at 12:10pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    @ helenaninja
    I might too. I think that's okay. I don't think anyone would be offended if an individual got up and moved if a mother began to nurse around them, so long as they didn't say something rude when doing it. I feel uncomfortable because I'm actually fascinated by it and I don't want to look at seem creepy, but I really want to look. I honestly just think it's a beautiful thing to watch. (Hopefully no one thinks I'm freaky for that... it's not a sexual fetish.)
    July 5th, 2012 at 03:02pm
  • LoveForGiraffes

    LoveForGiraffes (100)

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    I guess I'm taking an unpopular position here but I'm not really for or against it; I kind of see both sides. It's not a girls fault that her chest is viewed as something sexual...but it is what it is. If it wasn't, then it would be acceptable for girls to not wear shirts/tops on a public beach or whatever. I can also understand why breast feeding would bother someone, it's just preference. I don't think I would ever do it, but that's just me.
    July 6th, 2012 at 06:48am
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    @ LoveForGiraffes
    But should women be punished for things society decides for them? Society often deems it a woman's fault she was raped because of what she wore. Should we start bowing to the sexist thoughts of society in that case?
    July 6th, 2012 at 02:34pm
  • LoveForGiraffes

    LoveForGiraffes (100)

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    @ LoveForGiraffes
    But should women be punished for things society decides for them? Society often deems it a woman's fault she was raped because of what she wore. Should we start bowing to the sexist thoughts of society in that case?
    No of course not. I was just pointing out that it's generally not okay for a woman's chest to be exposed, and that's usually what breast feeding entails. I don't think that society should decide anything for anyone. I'm just seeing it from both sides.
    July 6th, 2012 at 02:57pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    @ LoveForGiraffes
    I see the other side as well. I just think the other side is wrong. Shifty
    July 6th, 2012 at 03:04pm
  • wx12

    wx12 (10125)

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    LoveForGiraffes:
    If it wasn't, then it would be acceptable for girls to not wear shirts/tops on a public beach or whatever.
    That may be a stigma in America, but in Europe it is acceptable. I just got back from Croatia and topless sun bathers were in no way disruptive or out to be indecent and taint children, so I think that's a poor example of indecent exposure, just like breast feeding.
    July 6th, 2012 at 05:21pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    @ Kurtni
    I was going to comment on that, but I figured we were discussing America anyway. I'm kinda hoping I get to go to Europe at some point because I'm more of a naturalist anyway.
    July 6th, 2012 at 05:23pm
  • LoveForGiraffes

    LoveForGiraffes (100)

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    Kurtni:
    That may be a stigma in America, but in Europe it is acceptable. I just got back from Croatia and topless sun bathers were in no way disruptive or out to be indecent and taint children, so I think that's a poor example of indecent exposure, just like breast feeding.
    Yes it certainly is a stigma but there's not much that can be done about that. I don't think it's a poor example considering it would be considered indecent exposure in America. Women have to go to a nude beach if they want to be topless here, it's not as accepted as in other parts of the world. It's not the same thing, but the issue is about the exposure of the breast, not about breast feeding itself. I personally don't think it would taint or disrupt children but other people, especially more conservative people might think that it would.
    July 6th, 2012 at 05:46pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    @ LoveForGiraffes
    I don't think that a child should have to go hungry because someone else has hang-ups. I don't like the clothes some people wear, the things they say, their face, their views, but they have the right to do those things. It's my problem, so I should be the one to move.
    July 6th, 2012 at 07:24pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    @ LoveForGiraffes
    I don't think that a child should have to go hungry because someone else has hang-ups. I don't like the clothes some people wear, the things they say, their face, their views, but they have the right to do those things. It's my problem, so I should be the one to move.
    July 6th, 2012 at 07:24pm
  • LoveForGiraffes

    LoveForGiraffes (100)

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    @ LoveForGiraffes
    I don't think that a child should have to go hungry because someone else has hang-ups. I don't like the clothes some people wear, the things they say, their face, their views, but they have the right to do those things. It's my problem, so I should be the one to move.
    Me either. It should be that simple to just tell people who don't like it to move themselves but it isn't. People love to start stuff about things that aren't even their business.
    July 6th, 2012 at 09:33pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    @ LoveForGiraffes
    I don't think laws should be made that cater to their problem, though. I think laws should protect people from their problem.
    July 6th, 2012 at 09:34pm
  • The Rumor

    The Rumor (365)

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    @ LoveForGiraffes
    So, what do you think a breast-feeding mother who is confronted about it should do?
    July 7th, 2012 at 09:22pm
  • LoveForGiraffes

    LoveForGiraffes (100)

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    @ LoveForGiraffes
    So, what do you think a breast-feeding mother who is confronted about it should do?
    If it were me I would politely tell them that if me feeding my hungry baby bothers them then they should simply look away. I wouldn't be surprised if it created a bigger issue, but that's what I would say. I'm not a mother so I really don't know. All I was trying to say was that I could understand the other side, I am not anti breast-feeding in public.
    July 8th, 2012 at 02:21am
  • charming.

    charming. (135)

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    LoveForGiraffes:
    If it were me I would politely tell them that if me feeding my hungry baby bothers them then they should simply look away. I wouldn't be surprised if it created a bigger issue, but that's what I would say. I'm not a mother so I really don't know. All I was trying to say was that I could understand the other side, I am not anti breast-feeding in public.
    That sounds like you're pretty pro- breast-feeding in public. Or, at least, when it's you. Since your reply isn't "I see your perspective, I guess this could be construed as really obscene, a mother feeding her hungry baby. Allow me to go do it in a dark room somewhere."

    To be frank, your replies/stance remind me of women who say "I wouldn't call myself a feminist" and proceed to agree that women should receive equal pay when they do the same work, not pay more for the same services, and not be blamed for being raped. I can (somewhat) understand the 'taboo' in admitting to feminism (mainly because people - women and men - don't seem to understand what feminism is) but on this issue I don't see the problem in saying exactly what you just did - the part in quote there - and concluding "Yepp, I'm pro-this." Why be ambivalent?
    July 8th, 2012 at 04:05am
  • wx12

    wx12 (10125)

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    @ pravda.

    I think you're misunderstanding her posts, and confusing how she thinks society will react with her personal opinion. We can all discuss how pro-breastfeeding we are till we're blue in the face, but our discussion is pretty useless, because pro-breastfeeding people aren't the problem, and if we don't try to understand the other side, even with all the laws in the world, the stigma attached to public breast feeding wont go away.
    LoveForGiraffes:
    I personally don't think it would taint or disrupt children but other people, especially more conservative people might think that it would.
    I think she made her personal opinion pretty clear, while acknowledging that her individual support isn't going to do much to shift public opinion.
    July 8th, 2012 at 04:17am
  • LoveForGiraffes

    LoveForGiraffes (100)

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    pravda.:
    That sounds like you're pretty pro- breast-feeding in public. Or, at least, when it's you. Since your reply isn't "I see your perspective, I guess this could be construed as really obscene, a mother feeding her hungry baby. Allow me to go do it in a dark room somewhere."

    To be frank, your replies/stance remind me of women who say "I wouldn't call myself a feminist" and proceed to agree that women should receive equal pay when they do the same work, not pay more for the same services, and not be blamed for being raped. I can (somewhat) understand the 'taboo' in admitting to feminism (mainly because people - women and men - don't seem to understand what feminism is) but on this issue I don't see the problem in saying exactly what you just did - the part in quote there - and concluding "Yepp, I'm pro-this." Why be ambivalent?
    I try not to lean towards one side, I usually play devil's advocate and see things from more than one perspective. I admit I do lean more towards the pro breast-feeding side, I was just trying to offer a slightly different point of view that's all.
    July 8th, 2012 at 04:22am
  • charming.

    charming. (135)

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    Kurtni:
    if we don't try to understand the other side, even with all the laws in the world, the stigma attached to public breast feeding wont go away.
    -shrug- I don't think "understanding the other side" is the same thing as considering it valid / equally valid. And I don't see how (us) "understanding" will remove the stigma. I feel like a mother saying just what LoveForGiraffes suggested she'd say to someone would do more for that, just by politely making a person confront their irrational issue.
    July 8th, 2012 at 05:36am