10 June 2007
feeding on the outrage, or, where are all the boobs?
Welcome, Carnival of Breastfeeding readers. My wife put me up to this, but as long as she does the majority of waking up late at night, and changes more diapers overall, I'm generally willing to go along with what she tells me to do.
So our daughter is breastfed, basically exclusively, other than the applesauce*. That said, she's eaten in a variety of places, public and otherwise, and every time I've been ready for somebody to be outraged. And waiting.
Except that nobody is bothered by it, to my befuddlement. I aggregate a few "new dad" blogs, and they rarely fail to point out a new media blitz when some celebrity in NYC or L.A. pulls up or down her shirt and gives her kid some milk. The blog and/or youtube comments following those articles are very, very informative as to the great gulf between the folks who find 'feeding fantastic, and the ones who are disgusted by the very notion of its mention, let alone seeing any portion of an exposed breast. Likewise the stories of women thrown off airplanes for offending more prudish passengers or flight attendants.
But out in the real world, I can't seem to find anybody willing to vocally object, or to even sneer, or look away in disgust. Either I'm ignoring such people, or they just aren't out there, around here. A couple weekends ago shoppers passing through the hoity-toity upscale mall portion of Columbus's Easton shopping mecca might have glanced, in the front window of Claire's (an earring and cheap jewelry boutique, for those of the non-female persuasion), a distraught baby with two new holes in her head, getting some comfort food from her mom.
For the record, I'm still not convinced getting Natalya's ears pierced before she's old enough to pay for it was a good idea. I have no such reservations about her being breastfed, and again, am almost sad nobody else seems to object either.
Not that I'd throw down my gloves and get into a good scrap with the offended party, anyway, but I'd point out that my wife would give them a good talking-to.
As for this Carnival, here are some more links:
- Jessica's post
- breastfeeding.blog.motherwear.com
- breastfeeding123.com
- mamaknowsbreast.com
- thelactivist.blogspot.com
- breastfeedingmums.typepad.com
- crunchydomesticgoddess.com
- nursingyourkids.com
* I don't really count shoving spoonfuls of peaches and sweet potatoes into her mouth "feeding" as I think of it as, more or less, an early, pediatrician-approved form of torture. The mashed-up bananas, well, once she's started eating more than she ends up wearing, then I'll figure out what I think of those.
5 comments on feeding on the outrage, or, where are all the boobs?
add your comment
I can and will moderate any and all comments at my discretion. I will not ever display or reveal your email address without your permission.
I'm in Australia and I think the prevailing attitudes might be a bit different here, but I have never had any unpleasant looks or comments directed at me for breastfeeding in public. Even on the memorable occassion when the baby came off and a stream of milk squirted accross and hit the waiter! In fact, what I really noticed was the way many other woman would look at me and my baby sentimentally. I always thought they were fondly remembering their time breastfeeding.
I've been fortunate in that respect too, although I do know several mums who've been harrassed for breastfeeding in public. (I'm from N. Ireland.) I can't imagine what I'd do if someone had a go at me for breastfeeding my baby - but I suspect I'd burst out crying... Now my sister on the other hand, oh boy, that would be a great tale to tell!
So far so good here as well.
Only time I've ever had so much as a negative glance was at a Christmas party with several friends from high school. I started to nurse Emmitt and one of the women freaked out that I was going to do "THAT" at the table.
Everyone else at the table (mostly men) jumped on her and that was the end of that.
I know enough women who've had problems though to know we still have a long way to go...
With my parents and sisters giving me grief over the fact that I've not yet reproduced (honestly, more people like me would be toooo much) this has been, quite frequently, a subject of conversation between me and my female counterpart. She's scared of kids 'cause of the pain involved. I'm scared because of the extensive list of potential birth defects. I'm not overly worried, though, because you and I both know that we've got some great genes.
Still, little Erich's running around might make me scared. I hope what the girls at work say about me having a girl as my first child is true.
Your link list is incomplete without a bit of humor.
http://thecowgoddess.com/