This guy shares his worst nightmare- a mom nursing in public. There’s a little bit of a new twist though- the idea that breastfeeding creates entitled brats down the line, and that nursing mamas are comparable to guerrilla warriors. Ahh. Let me get this straight: I should provide my infant with substandard nutritional fare in order to teach the essential life lesson that my child is not superior or entitled? That’s all it takes?
What did this guy’s mama feed him? Because he’s sounding pretty entitled to me.
Here’s an excerpt– spelling errors are all his, baby:
the behavior of well-educated parents who want to impose their version of an enlightened society upon the rest of us, without regard to our sensibilities.
That sort of selfish, guerilla mentality is not just inconsiderate to those of us backward Americans who are not used to seeing babies suckling while we’re shopping for party supplies or dog food, it’s also unfair to the companies whose employees are only trying to do the right thing.
Now, if any business – be it retail chain, a local independent store or a car dealership – announces a policy explicitly allowing open breast-feeding then that’s their prerogative. But one also has to ponder how this type of adult-baby behavior will eventually affect the child.
No wonder there’s a legion of kids nowadays who have grown up thinking they’re extra-special, entitled and oh-so-superior; after all, it’s been imbedded into their id since they were fed mother’s milk.
The Lactivist reprinted a powerful essay presenting a paradigm shift from the argument about culture, to the basic, natural need of an infant to nurse. I highly recommend taking the time to read it. Here’s a small snippet, so I can end this post with a voice of reason:
The offended onlooker does not have any rights to be protected. The offended onlooker has a personal issue, a feeling of discomfort and unease, that requires handling. A cultural dissonance, that needs acknowledged,
responded to, engaged with and hopefully smoothed away. The nursing dyad has no such personal issue in this paradigm. The nursing dyad is not operating out of a cultural context. The nursing dyad has supreme importance and protection in this scenario.There is a simple truth here, that is so awesome and complete in its simplicity, that it’s in danger of being overlooked: breastfeeding an infant is not a lifestyle choice. It is not a cultural convention. It is not a personal statement. It is a biological imperative. It is our essential nature. It is an essential element of our species, and the continuation of it. It is a biological norm.
Thank-you, Morgan Gallagher, and the Lactivist for sharing it.
6 replies on “Man-child blinded by boob”
I am surprised to know that in “developed” societies like USA, it is against the law and culturally unacceptable to provide the best nutrition to the baby at public places. This is not an issue in my country (India) where breastfeeding at any time, any place has been a socio-cultural practice for ages.
It is indeed ironic that we need laws here in the United States that state it is legal to feed a baby!
Jai-
http://thelactivist.blogspot.com/2007/04/great-christian-perspective-on-nursing_25.html
Is another post she did on different cultures and breastfeeding- I was reminded of it when I read your comment.
It is mindboggling to me that as a society we’re okay with Hooters restaurants and not with nursing in public.
Former vice president of USA, Mr. Al Gore has emphatically supported a legislation to make it legal to breastfeed iat public places. Full report is available at http://www.pugbus.net/artman/publish/04307002_11_breastfeeding.shtml
I hope, more people in decision making positions and also the community as a whole will support his views. This is how we can respect the nature, which provide a mother breasts to provide nutrition to her baby and not for other purposes. All mammalian species respect and understand this fundamental principle.
Jai Prakash
To note, it’s completely legal to breastfeed in public in all 50 states. There are no laws against it and no where is it considered “illegal.”
The problem is that for the states that don’t have a law making it expressly legal, there’s nothing to protect a woman that is harassed and sent away. She’s not breaking the law by doing it, but neither is someone else breaking the law by stopping her.
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