Breastfeeding in public and,what the public thinks of it.
A woman was forced to make the decision to bring her baby into court with her;while there her baby became hungry-like babies do- and she needed to nurse him.
She was apparently very discreet and would have gone unnoticed had a court clerk not made it known to the Judge that she was breastfeeding.
The Judge called the woman up front and asked:
"Do you think that's appropriate in here?"
"It's not illegal and I have to feed my child"
"Well ma'am,this is my court room and the law doesn't apply here-I choose what is acceptable in my court room-do you understand?"
"Yes"
"OK,we'll get along then"
I couldn't find the actual transcripts right off for exact wording,but he told her it wasn't appropriate in court.
Now,you might be saying about this particular situation that the baby shouldn't have been in court to begin with-and I can agree with this completely-but they made NO effort to have the baby removed or any rules set in place saying babies weren't allowed in the room.
The issue should have been with a baby being in the court room during proceedings,rather than because the woman was breastfeeding.
If the baby was being fed a bottle (which is also much more likely to 'spill') would anything have been said?Doubtful.
My advice to this courthouse and their Judges,is DON'T ALLOW BABIES.
The story itself actually wasn't the worst thing;in the comments,there were posters on both sides of the fence.
Some commenter's were standing up for the breastfeeding mom,saying that babies have got to eat and that they understand her situation.
But some comments related to actually breastfeeding in public appalled me:
"I don't want to see women breastfeeding"
"I don't want my children exposed to a woman nursing!"
"There are places that are inappropriate for breastfeeding"
"That's immoral"
"Just because something is natural doesn't mean it's appropriate in every time and place"
"Breastfeeding women just feel it's their right to do it anytime,anywhere they want"
"A court room is a place of reverence-not for breastfeeding"
"Feed your baby formula while on-the-go...nobody wants to see you breastfeed"
"Pump some milk in case baby gets hungry"
"Plan your trips around the feeding schedule"
With the exception of the last two,the other comments are just ignorant and ridiculous and do NOT support breastfeeding.
This is unacceptable.
I don't have the energy to once again address these comments....I have already shared my view on the original news story page (Which you can view here) and after being met with much disrespect and idiocy (yes,I will call them out.Their opinions are based on a unfounded belief that 1)breastfeeding is a filthy disgusting thing and 2) anyone who does it must be too-especially in public) needless to say,I was pretty furious.
One thing people keep saying is that they have their rights too:
Right to free speech-so they can tell breastfeeding moms how distasteful breastfeeding is.
Right to not be subjected to seeing anyone breastfeed.
Some went as far as to threaten having a breastfeeding mother cited for indecent exposure due to her nursing in a public place-this of course was met with a statement (by me) saying :IMPOSSIBLE. BREASTFEEDING MOMS ARE EXEMPT FROM IE CITATIONS.
Nice try you little worm.....
This makes me even more proud to be a breastfeeding mother.
I WILL nurse my baby when he is hungry.
I will and have always been very discreet while breastfeeding.
But I WILL nurse my baby if he needs to eat.
YOU having an issue with seeing a hungry baby being satisfied in the most normal,natural way-is NOT my problem.
I am sorry that you are so misinformed about breastfeeding....
The vast majority of women don't expose themselves while nursing-but if she does,so be it.
At least she's nourishing her baby.
I'm not even going to waste my time stating such obviously common-knowledge facts.
Telling a woman she cannot breastfeed is discrimination.
If you don't believe that-if you're one of those people who feels breastfeeding is for behind closed doors-I have news for you:
Your opinion is for behind closed doors.
If you don't want to see a baby breastfeeding-stay home.
ANYWHERE MY BABY CAN GO,I WILL NURSE HIM
Sure,I feed him before I leave the house.
I don't make it a point to nurse in public.
But this insane nonsense of "There are places you just don't do that"...yeah,sorry my baby eats when he needs to.
This is sadly another disappointing situation that has shown me why a women fail to succeed at breastfeeding.
I am near embarrassed to live in a culture who prefers feeding our children second-rate nutrients over seeing the 'real' thing.
This is a moment I am PROUD to be the MINORITY.
| 'Disgusting'? |
| 'Distasteful'? |
| 'Indiscreet'? I THINK NOT |
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