Breastfeeding in Public?

**pastradamus** · 30th August 2009, 06:39

A few days back, I was sitting in a restaurant and a woman a few tables away from me Began breastfeeding her child. Now as I was not used to seeing such things I must admit it did shock me a little but it did not bother me one bit and I just continued eating my meal. The part that really shocked me was when another woman about 2 tables away shot up and stormed out of the restaurant in protest coupled with dirty sneers in the direction of the Young mother breastfeeding her child. Then approached by a waitress - who had been informed by a manager, was told that she must refrain from such an activity in the restaurant and after that the mother left the restaurant.

What I am wondering here is what are peoples views on this? Do some people feel bothered when this happens? Or is it a woman's right to breastfeed her child wherever she wants?

Your views,

**h0m0revolutionary** · 30th August 2009, 08:36

A woman has a right to breastfeed her child wherever she wants. Clearly.

Breast feeding, even if it were not as beneficial to early growth as it has been proven to be, is a perfectly natural phenomina. The sight is not shocking, what is shocking is the completely abstract moralism people seem to have when it comes to somebody feeding their child!

You can see a whole exposed pair of breasts whenever you open a newspaper, but when a child is dependent upon that breast for food it's somehow less acceptable?

**thejambo1** · 30th August 2009, 09:29

the woman who complained should have been put out of the restaurant for being a stupid cow!! in this day and age it is absolutely mental that people still have this attitude,it really does beggar belief.

**Pirate turtle the 11th** · 30th August 2009, 09:40

I dont really think it matters one bit. I can understand that people dont want there super young kids to be around anything overly sexual but if someone finds a little kid being fed by a woman sexual - then the person in question has issues.

**Das war einmal** · 30th August 2009, 09:54

The morals of todays society are based on bourgeois mentality, although I have to admit that you can't expect all people to tolerate such behavior. I myself would think its a bit weird, was there no restroom in the neighborhood?

**Killfacer** · 30th August 2009, 13:08

It's not even shocking to see. It's disgraceful when people get annoyed about this kind of thing. I mean, do they have to stare at the mother making themselves get angrier and angrier. Pathetic.

ls · 30th August 2009, 17:19

Originally Posted by red_resistance

..
I myself would think its a bit weird, was there no restroom in the neighborhood?

Why do you think it's weird? Most restrooms are just toilets and they might even smell, what would be weirder is breastfeeding your baby in such a place.

Really, you talk about bourgeois mentality then say the exact same thing.

**sandragnash** · 30th August 2009, 17:20

Perhaps the woman who complained was somehow jealous of the mother. Perhaps the woman who complained was unable to have children, or had small breasts, it could be anything.

Definition of a misogynist: a man who hates women more than they hate each other.

Tell me - how have women managed to be ruled over by men in all countries on Earth, for millenia? When are you going to stand up for yourselves, and get away from these losers? Why are women now worse off than they were 50 years ago? So-called 'emancipation' has lead to semi naked women appearing on the front of umpteen magazines and newspapers in newsagents, and a shocking proportion of female actresses take their clothes off (at least some of them) to pose in 'sexual' pictures in 'Lad's mags'. Both men AND women now have to work full time just to maintain the same standard of living which required only ONE spouse to work, fifty years ago. Men now get what they want from women (sex) without even having to marry them.

Is this supposed to be an improvement?

(Please note - as a woman I am totally in favour of absolute equality for the sexes - but the things I am complaining about came about so that the 'elite' could increase the number of workers, and hence the profits they make, not to help women in any way.)

**pastradamus** · 30th August 2009, 17:40

Originally Posted by thejambo1

the woman who complained should have been put out of the restaurant for being a stupid cow!! in this day and age it is absolutely mental that people still have this attitude,it really does beggar belief.

Thats what I was getting at. Was I a little taken aback by this woman breastfeeding? Yes. But simply because I wasn't used to seeing it -though that didnt mean I had an issue with this as I simply ignored it after. But what shocked and disgusted me was this other woman's reaction and the reaction of the restaurant owners. I thought to myself two things about this woman:

A) At her age she probably has kids that she must have breastfed at some stage.

B) How can she not understand this?

**Muzk** · 30th August 2009, 18:33

Breastfeeding is awesome!
Only ones maybe complaining about this might be some christians. Or reactionaries.

**gorillafuck** · 30th August 2009, 18:42

Originally Posted by red_resistance

I myself would think its a bit weird, was there no restroom in the neighborhood?

Maybe she'd rather feed her child in an area that's comfortable to be in rather than in a smelly restroom?

F9 · 31st August 2009, 00:29

This seems weird to me(not the action of course, but the happening with the women find it weird) as down here, i place that i always say is deeply conservative in level most of you cant imagine, but the particular thing is something "common" and i have never heard of anyone having complains over such a thing.

In your question if i feel bothered when it happens and what i feel, my answer is that i feel nothing, and why would i feel bothered?Of course and she has the write to feed her child(any way possible) anywhere.

**the last donut of the night** · 31st August 2009, 00:50

I feel that any type of restriction on a woman to breastfeed her child is completely reactionary. Why? Breastfeeding is in our genes. And it´s been for there for about 230 million years. So why should it be wrong? Last time I checked, undoing 230 million years of evolution didn´t really work. Or does it? Humans, I call for us all to stop growing hair and be born with scales!

**Manifesto** · 31st August 2009, 01:22

I'm not against it in any way but for a simple solution to this she could just get some formula or put some in a bottle?

**yuon** · 31st August 2009, 01:39

Originally Posted by Manifesto

I'm not against it in any way but for a simple solution to this she could just get some formula or put some in a bottle?

That's no a solution.

Formula is quite different to breast milk, and besides, in public, how can the mother heat the bottle?
---

Me, I'm personally amazed that there aren't more sex crazed maniacs around. After all, most people see a vagina very early in their life, and such an experience must surely scare them!

And this mother wantonly shoving a baby at breast? Shocking! That's disgusting, after all, we all know that the site of a breast is likely to cause major problems in children when they get older.

---

Oh, and anyone who thinks that breastfeeding is dirty, unnatural or similar should be given a good kicking. It harks back to an age when women were expected to stay at home (indeed, still the case in some places).

Suggesting that a women should go to a toilet to breast feed (would you like to a meal in a public toilet?), or should bottle feed, or anything else is just stupid. They aren't solutions. The solution is changing perceptions towards public nudity.

**Manifesto** · 31st August 2009, 01:50

Originally Posted by yuon

That's no a solution.

Formula is quite different to breast milk, and besides, in public, how can the mother heat the bottle?

I was also talking about breast milk and true she would not be able to heat it up in public unless she brings some with her but thats only for so long.

**gorillafuck** · 31st August 2009, 02:03

Originally Posted by Manifesto

I'm not against it in any way but for a simple solution to this she could just get some formula or put some in a bottle?

She probably would just rather breastfeed her child than bottle breast milk beforehand. I don't see why we should expect or want someone to compromise when they've done nothing wrong.

**pastradamus** · 31st August 2009, 05:07

Originally Posted by Fuserg9

This seems weird to me(not the action of course, but the happening with the women find it weird) as down here, i place that i always say is deeply conservative in level most of you cant imagine, but the particular thing is something "common" and i have never heard of anyone having complains over such a thing.

In your question if i feel bothered when it happens and what i feel, my answer is that i feel nothing, and why would i feel bothered?Of course and she has the write to feed her child(any way possible) anywhere.

But thats the thing also in Ireland. We live in a society suffering from a very conservative catholic hangover. So we are still relatively prudish compared to say the UK or France on such matters. But still. . . My girlfriend who accompanied me in that restaurant was just talking about the incident and was talking about how totally disgusted she was with the woman who walked out. She also said that its becoming increasingly common here for a woman to breastfeed her child in public and that ignorance of nature is not an answer (BTW she basically typed that and I converted it into the second person format. . . been trying to convince her to come on here for a while now

).

**Abc** · 31st August 2009, 05:19

It all has to do with the Christain idea that breasts are sexual and since sex is evil and sinful displaying them in public is evil and sinful, if you look at alot of roman paintings and sculptures you will find they had no problem showing boobs and sex

(from Pompeii)

**LOLseph Stalin** · 31st August 2009, 05:33

If a baby is hungry their mother should have the right to feed them. Of course there's no alternative to breast milk. It has been proven to be the most beneficial to a developing child. Denying a woman the right to breastfeed in public is denying a child the chance to grow. People who are against public breastfeeding seriously need to rethink their priorities. What's more important? Protecting yourself from seeing breasts(That's so bad apperently while they're depicted all over the media

) or giving a child a chance to get the nutrients it needs? I don't think it really takes a genius to figure out what the obvious answer is.

Thread: Breastfeeding in Public?

Thread Tools

Breastfeeding in Public?

The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to pastradamus For This Useful Post:

The Following 31 Users Say Thank You to h0m0revolutionary For This Useful Post:

The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to thejambo1 For This Useful Post:

The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Pirate turtle the 11th For This Useful Post:

The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to Killfacer For This Useful Post:

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to ls For This Useful Post:

The Following User Says Thank You to sandragnash For This Useful Post:

The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to yuon For This Useful Post:

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to gorillafuck For This Useful Post:

The Following User Says Thank You to pastradamus For This Useful Post:

The Following User Says Thank You to Abc For This Useful Post:

The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to LOLseph Stalin For This Useful Post:

Similar Threads

Public spending

public schools

NZ Public Education

Public Schools Must Go!

Posting Permissions

Tags for this Thread