Yay or Neigh? Not right for a modern society where breasts are synonimous with sexual items and "perverts are everywhere", or, a wonderful example of a mother-child bond that's entirely natural and shouldn't be frowned upon?
It depends. If public nudity is still sick and wrong then I think breast feeding should be considered by the same people to be sick and wrong. Both are the natural state of being, but yet both have been covered up and hidden for a fair ammount of time now. So if naked ramblers and nudist hippies is fine, then breast feeding is fine, if the former aren't, then the latter should not be either. Of course my personal view on it is that I have no problem with it.
It's not critical at all, a bottle can easily and safely replace the breast as a source of food, and where the breast is used for feeding it can easily be done in non-public places like toilets, changing rooms etc.
I'm pro breast feeding, it should be encouraged at every opportunity, it's better for the baby and the mum. When most mothers breast feed in public, it's very hard to tell what they're doing - it just looks like they're cuddling the baby, they don't have their breasts on full view for all to see. There is the argument that mothers can use expressed milk in a bottle for the child, however this isn't as healthy for the child as milk fresh from the breast, and some babies that are used to bitty may not take milk from a bottle. Artificial milk is not as good as the mother's natural milk, there's thousands of studies supporting this, the only studies supporting artificial milk are sponsored by the likes of Nestle and other baby food manufacturers. Would YOU eat in a public toilet?
Oh I know that full well, Nestle have done some extremely immoral things with their milk products in the third world, I pointing out though that breast feeding is not critical. Beneficial and preferable maybe, but not critical. No, but then, I don't squirt liquid crap into my pants 12 times a day either.
That's hardly a point considering that a babies immune system is poor at best, so feeding in a toilet is about second worse to an actual sewer.
What's actually wrong with it? The only people that would find it 'wrong' are those who have been brought up with a distorted view that breasts are meant only as sexual play things. The only people who would have a problem with it are those who need to find some other cause to champion.. making a fuss over a mother naturally feeding a child is just another case of "i've got nothing better to do".
A lot of ehat has been said is correct, however, I have a 19 month old son and he was not breast fed - ever. My partner was not comfortable with it at all. He is almost 3ft tall and weighs a ton and hardly ever gets sick... We have a new baby coming in Feb 2007 and I doubt my partner will breast feed. With reference to the public toilet thingie mentioned above, a great deal of changing rooms have nursing facilities in them for this. It is not really a case of a woman getting her baps out in public... If you dont like it, dont look...
The exact same thing could be said about nudists, yet we treat them as criminals. Perhaps it's time that as a society we just grow up, instead of saying a breast is fine but a set of genitals or arse isn't.
Let's face it, we live in a society where titillation rules, and porn is a billion-pound industry. Public nudity, even a brief glimpse of nipple, is never "natural" in this country. Topless sunbathing is something done as part of a like-minded crowd, safety in numbers, and still considered 'a bit daring'. Leave us our hang-ups, they're fairly harmless.
Ok, so if it's not natural then surely breast feeding should be disallowed too? Or are we to continue to let mindless taboo's and stupid rules guide our choices in life for our society and ourselves?
What's the difference between mindless taboos, stupid rules, and social mores? We're a crowded society, have some thought for the opinions of your fellow citizens. Consensus rules, OK.
May I ask why are you asking this? For me it's totally natural, and have nothing against it, nor I'm like "excuse me lady, may you please put your baby a little bit more to the right, I cannot see your breasts. Thank you".
So if a bunch of people point to that there cow in the field and call it a table... who's correct? You for calling it a cow; or the majority for calling it a table? Just because there is a majority, doesn't mean it's absolute. The masses can still be wrong.
Anyone else in the thread eaten a cheeseburger in public? Food is food. If you don't like seeing people feed themselves (or feed others, as is the case with younguns and the broken), don't watch. It's just stupid. Back at some point, I'd bet clothing was solely for warmth, then dignity worked its way in, and then when ended up where we are now. You can't (easily) change what you've got, so there can't be a whole lot of harm in people seeing it. My 2c.
Another example of Britian's over-sensitivity. There is nothing taboo about a woman feeding her child in the most nautural way.
I have no problem whatsoever with breast feeding, and if the woman is attractive, I'd sure enjoy it. However, I spent 2+ hours a day on a bus, tired and hot, and of course full of weirdos (No, weirdos on a bus isn't a myth) the last thing I want to see is some fat 38 year old woman get out her oversized breasts. So no, I don't think it should be done in public. Not becuase of 'OMG sex is bad!' but becuase other people might not want to actually watch you do that. EDIT: But called a cow a table is wrong, becuase we all know a cow is not a table. It's a fact. Asking if breast feeding in public is ok is not a fact, but an opinion.
