Surviving the Domestic Jungle

I was watching one of my favorite shows, “What would you do?” and one of the topics they covered was breastfeeding in public. I personally feel there is absolutely nothing wrong with it and have done it in public many many times and will again. I think that a lot of people are not comfortable with it because breasts are more for a sexual purpose to men and to some women as well and it is hard to view them as a food source. The fact of the matter is, they are not there for a sexual purpose, they are there for if and when women have children and they are there to provide an excellent food source. I get why people are disapproving of it and I get why they have put breastfeeding benches in public restrooms (very few restrooms) to protect the mother and baby as well as the public viewing it. As long as the breast is not hanging out, I do not see the problem. One day I was at the park with my kids and there were some European mothers there with their kids and one of the mothers whipped her whole breast out and fed her baby and didn’t even remotely try and cover up. It didn’t bother me at all but the other parents (a husband and wife) were so horrified they were talking about how gross she was and very loudly. Just because the European moms were not speaking English, did not mean they didn’t understand! I listened to the dynamic of those two parents and was shocked. I was actually really disappointed in their closed mindedness. Would they have been happier if the baby was crying from hunger? I think it is a natural, nutritional way to feed your children and I think people need to relax their perceptions about it being weird or gross. I know there are strong arguments on both sides of the fence, but in this case,  I have to side with the breastfeeding moms. I have been out in public with no milk that I had pumped and I have a hungry baby. If I am at the park, I cant go to the bathroom! If I am at a deli, chances are the bathroom is the size of a broom closet! If I go to a bathroom and there is no chair or bench, I will do it where there is one so I can properly cover up my baby and my body. I don’t want you seeing my breasts anymore than you want to see them. I am just a mother trying to feed her baby and if people feel so strongly about it being wrong to do it in public, provide a space to do it! I learned from the show that it is perfectly legal in all but 3 states to breast feed in public so obviously mothers like me have the law on our side. And the law makers are in general a bunch of old men!! We need to get out of the stone age when it comes to certain things concerning pregnancy and breastfeeding. I have to look at butt cracks and visible panty lines and bra less boobs so why cant I sit quietly covered with a blanket and feed my baby? As long as I am covered, I see no problem with it and according to the show, not many people do have a problem with it.