I'm amused by the news and talk of the Lactivists. A group of public breast feeding activists were protesting a comment made by Barbara Walters that she is uncomfortable sitting next to a woman who is breast feeding on an airplane. The Lactivists didn't like that. They say it's natural.
Here's something that's natural too. How about next time I'm on an airplane, I have to go to the bathroom, and the bathrooms are all in use. I'll just do what's natural and use an empty coke bottle right there in my seat (also known as a trucker bomb).
I'm all for breast feeding. God made boobies for feeding babies, and they should be used for that when it's appropriate. The argument that a woman should whip out a breast in public and plant her baby's face against it for all the world to see because “it's natural” is just stupid. Defecation is natural too, but no one would say the public should have to watch anyone do it.
No Comments “Public “Trucker Bomb” Assembly”
Hmmm… I wonder if I should try that next time I see some of those activists — but I’d be more tempted to just go on their leg instead of in a bottle…
I nursed both of my children for almost two years, because of severe allergies in my family (my grandfather repeatedly came close to dying of asthma in childhood, and my mother from hives in adulthood). Please do not think I am attacking your main point, but I do think some accommodation for nursing infants is necessary. Nursing mothers do not have quite as much leeway or choice as you seem to think. My shy, quiet little girl was more than happy to wait for privacy to nurse. I will never forget the eleven-hour car ride during which she repeatedly refused to nurse because I could not find a place private enough to meet her standards. The nursing mother’s breasts involuntarily produce milk when her baby cries(or even if ANOTHER baby cries). It actually HURTS, and infections can start that way. Before the eleven hours ended, I was in AGONY and TERRIFIED about the possible effects on my baby! On the other hand, my vigorous, forthright little son (who had spent most of his gestation kicking off one inner wall to crash against another) learned VERY early how to produce ear-splitting shrieks and how to open my blouse to obtain what he wanted. I spent many desperate moments scurrying around public places, clutching my wet blouse with one hand and holding him back with another, searching frantically for privacy, as he continued to demand loudly and articulately (he also talked early) the object which he felt I was so unreasonably witholding from him. Sometimes maybea mother just needs a little discreet help. PS Both of my children have only mild allergies; nursing really does help with this problem!
Hey, I don’t want to be a jerk. I can understand that things aren’t always easy. My point was that using the “Natural” argument is extremely myopic.
I am a newly-wed. My wife and I are not having children right away, so I can’t say “been there”. I might have patience for a woman in your situation, whereas the woman who whips out a breast wherever she may be because she doesn’t care, it’s natural, and she is above all criticism gets no patience from me. I tend to agree with a post done on Vox Day’s blog recently about two hippies making out on a street corner, where Vox was tempted to relieve himself 5 feet from them because “it’s the thing to do”.
I tend to think most people are like me, they’re only offended when the offender obviously wants them to be offended, or clearly doesn’t care about others.
Both of my babies were very frequent nursers. My first one needed to nurse every 40-60 minutes for most of his first year. I tried at first to get him to take longer feedings and space them out, but it didn’t work for him. When he needed to nurse he needed to nurse. And I wasn’t going to miss my bus, lose my place in line at the bank, or quit playing the organ in the middle of church to go find a place to feed my baby.
Fortunately, after a while my babies got accustomed to getting completely under my shirt to nurse (I always wore loose tops), so absolutely nothing was exposed. Unfortunately, even when nothing was exposed, there were people who still had a problem with it. When they saw the big bulge under my shirt or if they said, “Let me see the baby!” and I said “He’s eating right now,” they freaked out. Just knowing that breastfeeding was going on gave them the willies. That is the type of attitude that must change. As long as people act like breastfeeding is icky (like in all those analogies where they compare my breastmilk to urine), women will be less inclined to choose breastfeeding for their babies, which will be detrimental to the health of children. That is what lactivism is about.