THOUGHTFUL RAMBLING No. 2
"Lactose Intolerance"
It's happening everywhere and apparently, I missed it again.
Last week on a Freedom Airlines flight (ironically), a woman was asked to leave the plane because she refused to cover up while breast-feeding her baby.
Two days later, Barbara Walters made a comment on ABC's "The View" that a woman sitting next to her on a flight also failed to cover up while breast-feeding and that it had made her very uncomfortable. Walters' comments were not taken well. The next morning 200 "lactivists" held a "nurse-in" outside the ABC studios breast-feeding their babies right there in front of God and everybody on Columbus Avenue and West 67th Street in Manhattan.
Lactivists? Nurse-ins? Did I miss a meeting?
When did the apparent epidemic thrashing of nursing mothers take on the need for an organized movement? Are there really that many Moms out there getting Hester Prynned for breast-feeding in public? Are they really being ridiculed en masse? I'm not buying it.
Coast to coast, you can breastfeed at Burger King with their blessing. Ditto for Starbucks. Granted, it took a letter writing campaign and www.nurseatstarbucks.com to get it done, but hey, they got their wish and as the site says, "What could possibly go better with coffee than milk?"
I recognize there are a number of people who are uncomfortable with the idea of a baby suckling in public. In interviews and Internet discussions, hundreds of women recount being asked to stop nursing in public spots, including the Children's Museum in Huntsville, Alabama; a knitting store in the East Village; a Radisson Hotel lobby in Virginia; a public bus in Los Angeles; and a city commission meeting in Miami Beach. A city commission meeting! I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's where the phrase, "No titties! Just good government!" came from.
Come on. Isn't this much ado about nothing on everyone's part? Does this really require a mobilization?
Nursing Moms - understand not everyone wants to see you nursing your baby. While by law, we recognize you have the right to nurse wherever you'd like to, it wouldn't kill you to realize discretion is the better part of valor. Defensive Moms say draping a blanket over the baby makes it hot for them, but come on. They just spent 40 weeks on a waterbed set at 98.6 degrees. They'll be fine. And one more thing, if you're nursing a baby in public and we happen to look, you cannot get mad about it. I don't know about the women, but I can speak for the guys -- while we're conditioned by our mothers not to look at naked breasts in unexpected places, genetics render that physically impossible. We'll try not to stare, but understand it's a little like finding $50 on the street. It almost never happens, but when it does, it's kind of a bonus!
Everyone Else - Lighten up. If you've ever been a new parent, you know how overwhelming the whole process is anyway. You're tired. You're frustrated. You're totally hormonal. And that's just the dads. Whether it's your first kid or your last, a new baby is overwhelming and new parents need all the love and support they can get. If you haven't been a parent, trust me, we need your patience. When our kids are loud. When our kids are sitting around you on a plane. And yes, when our wives take a break from total seclusion to venture into public with totally engorged breasts that are physically uncomfortable and have to feed the baby. It's unfair to ask them to go nurse in the bathroom and even worse to simply be an ass about it. I get it. Mobile milk bars aren't your thing. But would it kill you to exercise a little tolerance? Is a baby sucking a naked breast really going to bring down Democracy as we know it? No.
Call me a boob, but I've got no problem with women nursing wherever they want. Not one has ever flaunted what they were trying to do, or made me feel uncomfortable or angry in any way. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the Milk Nazis who chastised my wife for months for NOT nursing our children.
But hey, that's another story.
"Lactose Intolerance"
It's happening everywhere and apparently, I missed it again.
Last week on a Freedom Airlines flight (ironically), a woman was asked to leave the plane because she refused to cover up while breast-feeding her baby.
Two days later, Barbara Walters made a comment on ABC's "The View" that a woman sitting next to her on a flight also failed to cover up while breast-feeding and that it had made her very uncomfortable. Walters' comments were not taken well. The next morning 200 "lactivists" held a "nurse-in" outside the ABC studios breast-feeding their babies right there in front of God and everybody on Columbus Avenue and West 67th Street in Manhattan.
Lactivists? Nurse-ins? Did I miss a meeting?
When did the apparent epidemic thrashing of nursing mothers take on the need for an organized movement? Are there really that many Moms out there getting Hester Prynned for breast-feeding in public? Are they really being ridiculed en masse? I'm not buying it.
Coast to coast, you can breastfeed at Burger King with their blessing. Ditto for Starbucks. Granted, it took a letter writing campaign and www.nurseatstarbucks.com to get it done, but hey, they got their wish and as the site says, "What could possibly go better with coffee than milk?"
I recognize there are a number of people who are uncomfortable with the idea of a baby suckling in public. In interviews and Internet discussions, hundreds of women recount being asked to stop nursing in public spots, including the Children's Museum in Huntsville, Alabama; a knitting store in the East Village; a Radisson Hotel lobby in Virginia; a public bus in Los Angeles; and a city commission meeting in Miami Beach. A city commission meeting! I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's where the phrase, "No titties! Just good government!" came from.
Come on. Isn't this much ado about nothing on everyone's part? Does this really require a mobilization?
Nursing Moms - understand not everyone wants to see you nursing your baby. While by law, we recognize you have the right to nurse wherever you'd like to, it wouldn't kill you to realize discretion is the better part of valor. Defensive Moms say draping a blanket over the baby makes it hot for them, but come on. They just spent 40 weeks on a waterbed set at 98.6 degrees. They'll be fine. And one more thing, if you're nursing a baby in public and we happen to look, you cannot get mad about it. I don't know about the women, but I can speak for the guys -- while we're conditioned by our mothers not to look at naked breasts in unexpected places, genetics render that physically impossible. We'll try not to stare, but understand it's a little like finding $50 on the street. It almost never happens, but when it does, it's kind of a bonus!
Everyone Else - Lighten up. If you've ever been a new parent, you know how overwhelming the whole process is anyway. You're tired. You're frustrated. You're totally hormonal. And that's just the dads. Whether it's your first kid or your last, a new baby is overwhelming and new parents need all the love and support they can get. If you haven't been a parent, trust me, we need your patience. When our kids are loud. When our kids are sitting around you on a plane. And yes, when our wives take a break from total seclusion to venture into public with totally engorged breasts that are physically uncomfortable and have to feed the baby. It's unfair to ask them to go nurse in the bathroom and even worse to simply be an ass about it. I get it. Mobile milk bars aren't your thing. But would it kill you to exercise a little tolerance? Is a baby sucking a naked breast really going to bring down Democracy as we know it? No.
Call me a boob, but I've got no problem with women nursing wherever they want. Not one has ever flaunted what they were trying to do, or made me feel uncomfortable or angry in any way. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the Milk Nazis who chastised my wife for months for NOT nursing our children.
But hey, that's another story.
posted by Michael Tuggle at 4:21 PM
2 Comments:
Let me see... complete strangers (women) want to expose their (engorged) breasts in public and someone has a problem with it?
Not me.
I endorse engorged breasts.
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