When I went on Fox and Friends and Dr Keith Ablow talked about breasts as secondary sexual organs I tried to contain myself. For many people ears, necks and toes are highly erotic but we don’t have laws to cover them them up.
We do have laws that allow women to feed their children anywhere that women are allowed to be. So basically no, you may not feed your infant son in a men’s locker room. I’m willing to call this reasonable.
Now, before you confuse me for a lactivist understand that although I support your entitlement to nurse freely I think that manners matter and I’d like to see women of older children nurse discreetly. If you have an infant I don’t care if you have to plop both breasts on a dinner plate to get the job done. When you’re nursing a child who can tie their own shoes I’d prefer you were somewhere private, not glaring at me in a restaurant.
We need lactivists. We need batshit crazy extremists who will nurse their seven year olds at Applebees. Sometimes you’ve got to be outrageous to make some changes.
In a statement given to KHOU 11 News, Pure Fitness for Women said: “Our company strongly supports and encourages mothers to pursue the healthy development and nutrition of their children through breastfeeding. We believe breastfeeding is one of the most important, natural and personal ways for a mother to bond with her baby.”
According to the statement, the gym, as a private business, was also entrusted with the care and custody of minor children in the Kid’s Club area.
Velazquez said several children, including an 11-year-old boy, were in the Kids Club at the time Montgomery-Schlanser was breastfeeding.
“We are responsible for both male and female children from the ages of three months to 12 years old,” the gym said in a statement. “Without express written consent from a parent or legal guardian of these minor children, we feel we do not have the right to dictate what the parent or guardian determines to be appropriate for their children.”
I must say I support this nurse in. As wacky as I think they can be I think it’s important that we dispel the myth that breastfeeding is a sexual activity and that children somehow need to be shielded from it.
Breastfeeding is a sexual activity?! For pete’s sake! The only people who think that are people who have never breastfed a child. Stories like this woman’s make me really angry. Feeding a child is why you have breasts in the first place, people!
I’d say people do far naughtier things with their mouths than they do with their boobs, but we let gym owners run their mouths right there in the newspaper. In front of kids! Of both genders!
Lol…That’s almost always my argument when people talk about breasts being for sex or not for public. My mouth is used for sex…and it still gets seen by the public.
LOL at Shannon. As long as people put chemicals in their babies’ bodies in the form of formula, I’ll breastfeed in public. When they stop, I’ll stop. Not that I’m nursing. My kids no longer like milk. Not even their mama’s.
For some people those chemicals are life sustaining. Nursing really isn’t an option for some people
I’m not trying to be funny.
I personally believe there are alternatives, though. I’m simply saying that if people have the right to feed their baby formula in public (which I don’t care for), then I have the right to feed my baby breastmilk in public (which is offensive to some). It is mind-boggling to me that people would be offended as mursing in public. I’m just making a comparison saying that if a person can bottle feed then I can nurse. The one that is more natural shoudl not be more offensive, is the point I’m trying to make.
I’m just clarifying because as much as I support breastfeeding I also support bottle feeding and I worry that moms feel like they have to pick a side.
You don’t need to trash bottle-feeding and bottle-feeding moms to make your point. And by the way, there are chemicals in breastmilk, too.
What was trashy about my comment?
You’ve got to be kidding. You’re joking, right? “As long as people put chemicals in their babies’ bodies in the form of formula”… That’s an extremely harsh, emotional and negative portrait of formula feeding. What are the harmful chemicals in formula? How do they differ from the many chemicals that pass through in your milk? Why would you paint formula-feeding moms with that brush, and then expect compassion yourself? Use compassion and you’ll get it back.
I am pro feed your baby. I don’t care what you’re doing, just please DO IT and don’t think apple juice & soymilk will sustain your baby (b/c it won’t…and your baby will die…google it). Babies need breastmilk OR formula. They need high fat content, high calories, and something nutritious. Formula is man made, breastmilk is woman made.
And even if formula totally stopped being used…why would anyone suddenly stop nursing in public? That makes no sense. If EVERY baby on the planet were given breastmilk…no one would notice or care about a public boob.
Public boob. That’s funny.
One day, I was traveling with my two sisters and my daughter, who was 12 months old, I think, on the DC Metro. I discreetly started breastfeeding her, and boy did I hear it from my sisters. They were appalled.
Now, years later, my sisters confessed that one regret they had when their children were little was that they didn’t breastfeed.
Who Knew?!?!