transcended.net

I want to preface this post by saying, I have absolutely nothing against breastfeeding in public. In fact, I did it for the very first time last Sunday and it was great, I was on a bench with a lovely view of the bay and I kid you not that a sea lion swam by to entertain us as I nursed on a bench with my friend who was also nursing her daughter.

But I would never, ever, ever nurse in public without a cover. I feel like the hardcore breastfeeding-in-public crowd confuses modesty with shame and the two are not the same even if they can lead to the same outcome. The outcome being not flashing my breastses (pronounced breast-eh-stes) to the world.

I’m certainly not ashamed that I breastfeed, I’m not sure why I would be given that society nowadays pushes the whole “breast is best” thing way beyond the limits of what research has actually proven, in fact, I was actually fearful of judgement that time I whipped out a bottle of expressed milk in a cafe to feed T and I tried in vain to telepathically inform all the eyes that I felt were judging me, “it’s expressed breast milk, I swear!” BUT being proud (or even just neutral) that I breastfeed does not seem to me to be a great reason to suddenly become an exhibitionist flashing my nips in every Banana Republic (true story, I once saw a woman nursing cover-less in the middle of a BR in downtown) or showing off a ginormous nip.ple as I walk down a Miami promenade in the middle of the day with an infant hanging off it (but who’s mouth wasn’t big enough to cover it because it was so damn huge) (also a true story, I saw this, I was eating, it kind of ruined my appetite just a little bit, I don’t care if this makes me a prude).

I read a comment somewhere and this woman was downright appalled and angry at her family, who were “sooo backwards” that they asked if she could cover up when she whipped out her bo.ob in the middle of like Thanksgiving dinner or something and started nursing in plain view of all her cousins, uncles, I’m assuming her father and maybe grandfather? I just don’t get why you would WANT to do that, even if you can, which yes, you technically can, but then shouldn’t you be prepared for all your hormonal fifteen year old nephews to be whipping out their iPhone cameras and er…ew…just ew?

I feel like I am probably in the majority here, since I know a lot of women who breastfeed/have breastfed and I have no idea what any of their nip.ples look like, but I feel like with this new generation of “lactivists” there’s this small segment of the population that seems to be demanding that breasts no longer be viewed as sexual objects but rather just food dispensers, like the pez ones with Donald Duck on top. The problem with this is that they aren’t just for feeding, they have a legitimate role as sexual objects too. Even though my own at the moment aren’t looking so hot, more like veiny and disproportionate, but they actually do look pretty good when I’m actually wearing a bra and a shirt (this does not happen often anymore though).

So while breastfeeding in public should be and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it is seen as 100% acceptable, I think it is just as acceptable to expect that women who nurse in public use a cover, particularly if they’re in an area where there may be hormonal teenage boys. You may think, well teenage boys should learn that these are merely baby feeders, but in the same breath you should also tell yourself that communism works in theory because that’s about as far as you’re going to get with that.

In closing, breastfeeding is great. Breastfeeding in public, also great. But there’s no reason to throw modesty out the window just because breastfeeding is great. Besides, they make cute nursing covers nowadays and you can probably get one for free if you google promo codes for udder covers. You’re welcome.