breast feeding in public

How many newborns, who aren't old enough to wait to nurse are "running around" in resturants or anywhere else? Megara, ahve you actually SEEN nursing infants in these snobby resturants you seem to be an expert on? Because I notice BF babies, and I have never seen one at the Pump Room or Morton's.

OMG. Not an other one who compares EATING with elimination? Everyone else in a resturant is EATING, and so is a breastfed baby. BREASTFEEDING IS NOT AN ELIMINATORY FUNCTION!!!! Babies cannot WAIT until they get home and the TOILET is not a proper place to feed anyone, much less an infant. If you are that fucking hung up, go live in a retirement home, where you don't have to deal with children.

Should NO ONE eat in a resturant, then? According to your lack of logic, which implies that somehow eating is like "taking a piss?" Ever see the way some people chew and eat with their hands? Even in "fancy" resturants? No one asks them to leave.

 

I think the word excruciating is the one that stands out most to me here!!!

 

I'm not English for one, and you meant it as an attack.

She should to show respect for other people

Again, i've never said anything of the sort. Do you think it is acceptable to go into a library and cause a lot of racket? I dont.

If i said 'good money' i used it in away to talk about spending a lot of money. I cant be bothered to scroll back through 10 pages to find exactly where i said good money. If you think i used good money in some horrible way, feel free to repost what i said.

Where? I've already said that having money doesnt make you well mannered.

Manners. I'm not trying to take that right away from her. Just as i'm not trying to take away a person's right to eat with their mouth open.

African cultures are NOT american culture. American culture depicts breasts as mostly sexual. African cultures mostly(or completely) don't.
I don't really see why we have to adjust our culture because someone else might see it differently.

Maggie: i've already said it isnt my business and i'd keep my PEEVE to myself- i wouldn't run across the room and yell at someone eating with their mouth open either; both, however, distract me. And babies with bottles often make a 'loud' suckling noise too. As i've said already, this is a PEEVE of mine. You know, i'm sure you have things that bother you too. And yes, quite frequently i've seen little kids throwing tantrums at restaurants. It can be hard to get a little kid to sit still for 2-3 hours. However, i've noticed it more overseas where it is more common to have longer dinners.

 

I love that sound, it wakes the mind up, but my experience tells me that this sucking sound could bother some people knowing that it comes from a baby feeding on a mother's breast; I whole-heartedly believe that this in particular, that is asking the mother to move, is unreasonable. I believe, however, that it is important that we, our communities, try to find fair and reasonable solutions to the discomfort many people feel in viewing a woman's breast while she is feeding her child and in viewing a woman's breasts in general; this might start with education about how these ways of life are different between the many cultures and sub-cultures.









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People need to realise that covering body parts is ridiculous and the only purpose for it should be for warmth. Boobs aren't the work of the devil or anything, they're not a sex object -regardless of what some people may think- they are a functional body part that serve a purpose: a nature purpose. That purpose is to feed offspring. You can't deny a mother her nature-given right to use the tool she was born with in order to keep her child from being malnutritioned. Thank you. Very much.

 

Agreed, ditto, but we must walk a fine balance. Definitely mother's should be able to feed their children in public places, and people who are fearful of this should just move or look in another direction. I believe that we should be careful to try to be compassionate about these fears but also protect our rights.

 

That's what you think; but it's not what society thinks. In exactly the same way, I can *say* that it *should* be ok for me to piss in public, but it's clearly not. I don't, because it offends people. Why would I want to shove it in their faces (there's a disgusting image!) if they don't like it?

As for comparing elimination to eating, it's not that dissimilar - both are perfectly natural, and people's only objection to either is silly hang-ups like 'manners' and 'appropriateness'. But those things are part of living in a society - we have to accept that some things are done in private.

A lot of people here seem to get very exercised about my pissing comparison; I think this shows the fallacy of your arguments. You're perfectly happy to say "it's natural, I need to do it, why should I have to go into private to do it" when it's your necessity, but not when it's mine. I totally agree that if the only other option is a hungry baby, then you've got to feed the baby. But that's rarely the choice, and it only occurs if you let it.

 

Jim there are other issues involved with "elimination", in this case, I believe, that it is an incorrect comparison. See my earlier post in this thread about this.

 

Quite frankly, I couldn't care less if you pissed in front of me in public... Or any stranger for that matter. When you gotta go, you gotta go. Society needs to, put roughly, grow the fuck up.

 

Wow, that was just plain mean. I know a few people who would have not let that end peacefully. But good for you for sticking up, that was super cool!

 

The orginal post was bad enough, then I read about elimination being the same as breastfeeding. WTF? Do you sustain yourself with your pee? Yes it is natural, but I am sure that if you pissed all over the floor or in a plant in a restuarant that there is going to be way more trouble then if a woman breastfeed her child.
The topic of manners is brought up. So, let's go with that. I've been in "high class" restuarant (i.e 100+ a plate) and while there were kids there, most kids there were more well behaved than the adults there and less stuck up. At not one of those places I've been to have a manager come out and said a single word to the adults acting childish. I feel bad for the children who parents are made to feel like second class people. It keeps alive the notion of it being "bad" and another generation of people are led away from it. I wonder if so many people feel like it is bad simply because they will never experience it or haven't experienced it yet.

i walked up to a breastfeeding lady recently and told her "Thanks for not giving in". She was in a store with me and, even with all the glares from people, she kept right on feeding. I was thinking about how people say "refrain from feeding in a public place" and all that, but if a mother refrained from feeding her child in a public place, say if the child was older, she could be held for neglect and her child taken away. It can be a double edged sword.

 

Good points Outcast and Jesse. Both of you are touching on a good point in that we (women and men) should not give in to repression; that it is important that good change come about (and that the babies are fed). I am adding that we should continue to gain a greater understanding of this type of fear and have a balanced respect for people who are trying to control the breast feeding of a baby in public places; this does not mean give in to the requests to stop but, instead, to not mislead the attention of the folks who are acting to try to repress by engaging in hostile arguement; the message sent by peacefully going about your business and not responding to foolishness will send, ultimately, a much more powerful message than engaging these people on their level which is often, as I have seen, overt hostility. There are much deeper issues going on here than usually, initially, 'meet the eye', and as Jesse said "people need to grow up." It is better that we tend to develope more peaceful, enlightened, societies, this will take time; send a message that makes people think and evolve accodding to the truth rather than assisting in the diversion of thier attention; help to facilitate learning in these people.







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Women used to be denied the right to have a job (and to vote), and actually, it was seen as rude to even show your face working as a woman. It wasn't included in "manners". Well, look at how ludacrous we see that as today..

 

Jesse,

Your observation is very significant. I believe that someday humans will be intelligent enough to experience what they do not understand with healthy reserve and self observation and review. Too often people jump to instant conclusions and want to do battle rather than learn and build good. I believe that, initially, it is easy to destroy and disrupt; initially, it is more difficult to heal and build good. But in the long run it is eaisier to heal and build good, in part, because it is what we are naturally seeking whether we know it or not. These words speak to the heart, without further qualification these words can easily be perverted or misunderstood; I could, I suppose, write more succinctly or with more words and, thus, make it more difficult to twist. Peaceful means are always superior and almost always available; I believe that most folks do not understand this, see this link in reference to your post (it is the response from David at or near the top of the page). People are evolving and those who are more advanced must be cautious of those who think and react in primitive and pre-judgmental ways.

Peace,

David




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Great post David... but it's jessIe, not jesse.
I let it slide the first few times hehehehe

 

Uoppsss, sorry Jessie.

 

No problemo.

 

:-/

So, if I believe that nudity is lovely and wonderful and that I shouldn't be afraid to be nude, is it OK for me to ride the bus naked? Am I allowed to swear loudly in front of your kids? Is anything allowed? Or is it just things that you do?

 

Unfortunately you're not allowed, because there are laws and rules.. but you should be allowed.

 

I see. So society's rules and standards are just BS?