Nursing in Public... An Opportunity for the Dense to Sound Off.... ;~D

Tweet

In another post, I started a discussion about governmental infringement of our rights, using legislation making it illegal to make a nursing mother feel uncomfortable. I added a "disclaimer for the dense" because I didn't want the example to become the discussion. In the sense of fair play and open dialogue, I'm posting THIS article to discuss the nursing in public issue itself. What the Wisconsin law forgets is that a nursing mother's comfort or discomfort isn't any more or less important that the comfort of everyone around her. It isn't a matter of "if you don't like it, you can leave", because no one should have to leave at all. When I was a teenager, only a few of us had cars. Some of us willingly became kind of a "taxi" service for our friends who didn't. To me it was not only being nice, but it meant more time to spend with my friends. Because I often brought friends directly from school to work, or from work to wherever we were going for fun afterwords, it was common for friends to change clothes in my car. I had a 67 Oldsmobile Cutlass (think aircraft carrier :~D) which held 8 of us in front and back bench seats. Friends that were girls could completely change their clothes without exposing any part they didn't want to. If that is possible, then there is absolutely NO reason a nursing mother can't take care of her baby's needs in the way only nursing can, without calling undue attention to herself. The only reason for doing things that bring attention to herself... because for whatever reason.. she wants the attention. I am glad that mothers don't feel the need to confine themselves to public bathrooms and their cars when feeding their babies. There was a time when women's bathrooms were designed to allow mothers to feed babies in comfort, but apparently that time is long gone. I remember wondering why women's bathrooms were basically "lounges" while men's bathrooms were all about the business of urination, defication and hand washing. Over the last couple of decades women's bathrooms have sought equality with mens's bathrooms. In most cases, a nursing mother wouldn't even be able to find a spot in the bathroom should she choose (or be told) to nurse there. Common courtesy is a two way street. Common courtesy should mean that a mother should feel uncomfortable, dirty or anything else bad for nursing her child in public. Common courtesy would also mean that the mother wouldn't call undue attention to herself while nursing either. Nursing is a healthy, natural act that has no real downside. On the other hand, nursing isn't a spectator sport, nor is it an excuse for a mother to make a spectacle or herself. While it is wrong for a person to overtly make the mother feel uncomfortable, it is equally wrong for the mother to make those around her feel uncomfortable.