Breast Feeding in Public - Controversy?
Is there really a controversy over breast feeding in public or is the controversy actually over the lack of discretion by some breast feeding mothers? I have no problem with breast feeding in public, as long as it is done with some level of discretion. I am not in favor of a two year old child being able to walk up to their mother in public, lifting the mother’s shirt, and proceed to nurse like a calf on a cow. Two recent articles in my local news paper prompted me to comment on this subject.
The two stories that I am referring to in this posting ran in the July 13 and the July 20, 2005 editions of the Goose Creek Gazette. The newspaper has a web site, but they do not make archive articles available on the web site so I have scanned a copy and provided it below. You can contact the newspaper via their web site at www.goosecreekgazette.com if you would like to obtain an original copy of these stories.
The first story titled Creek Streets by Tabatha Blevins ran as responses from citizens on the streets of Goose Creek, SC when asked “How do you feel about women breast feeding in public?” None of the respondents were opposed to breast feeding in general, but three of the four mentioned a need for some form of discretion when breast feeding is done in public. Please refer to the picture below for the responses.
The second story ran as a Letter to the Editor. This letter shown below was printed in the July 20 edition of the Gazette as a response to the Creek Streets article from the previous week.
The argument in the letter to the editor contains a flaw. The writer of this letter tries to blame the changes in society over recent decades promoting artificial feeding methods. While, she did not provide statistics to support her argument on how alternative (bottle formula) promotions have dampened the support of breast feeding, I tend to agree with her on that point. My problem is with her argument on why a breast fed child should be able to eat whenever and where ever they need. She cries foul on older children and adults eating in public without any problems and that justifies a breast fed child being able to eat in public. The problem is that a woman does not have to expose a breast in public for adults and older children to eat when and where they want. This eating in public thing is another function of the change in our society over the recent decades. A few decades ago, we were not as mobile and fast paced as we are today. The need for breast feeding in public a few decades ago was not as great as it is today. What it boils down to is that the lady is trying to use the same changing society argument to support her wanting to breast feed in public while in the previous breath blaming her problems with breast feeding in public on the very same changes in society. It is a simple case of wanting to have her cake and eat it too. She needs to either blame society’s changes or embrace the changes.
The letter to the editor also refers to the natural process of mothers making milk and how humans are mammals. Well, yes that is true, but there are still laws that apply to the exposure of the entire human mammal breast in public. I looked and could not find any provisions in the South Carolina law for exposure of the breast even in the good name of breast feeding. It is simply illegal to expose the entire breast in public. There has to be some level of discretion. The author would also have you believe that there is some great controversy over breast feeding in public. I argue that there is not as big of a controversy over breast feeding as there is over the lack of discretion in breast feeding in public. Many people including the people quoted in the article above are concerned with the level of discretion and not the natural process of breast feeding. Each of the three who spoke out at all against breast feeding in public qualified their statements with words like private, discretion, and not be exposed. They just don’t want to be forced to look at another person’s exposed breast.
The author asks “How do you feel about people breathing in public?” I have an even better question. Let’s stick with the natural digestive track and ask, “How do you feel about people exposing themselves just enough to urinate or defecate in public?” These are perfectly normal biological processes for all mammals. These perfectly natural body functions also require exposing parts of the body that are prohibited by law. So where will it stop if we allow for the exposure of the entire breast in the name of breast feeding. Will we then have to allow for people to relieve themselves in public as long as they catch their waste and clean up their messes?
The bottom line is this. We are unique mammals that require a higher level of consideration for the other unique mammals around us. Women who breast feed their children in public should do so with as much consideration for others as humanly possible. Exposure of the breast even in the name of breast feeding should be minimized to protect the innocence of other children who have no need to see any other breast than the breast of their own mother.