the politics of breastfeeding in public

Breastfeeding is normal, biologically and physiologically speaking, while bottle feeding, on the other hand, is not. However, in our society, breastfeeding is not necessarily considered the cultural norm. As such, breastfeeding in public is a very political topic, with surprisingly heated arguments coming from both sides. I am always surprised about this, surprised at how sexualized breasts have become, and how uncomfortable some people can be when they see a baby breastfeeding in public. Having nursed two children for a total of nearly six and a half years and counting in nearly any and every location imaginable, it makes my head spin to think about how backwards we are here in the United States. The fact that people are uncomfortable seeing a child at the breast stems from cultural perceptions and previous practices.

Before I continue, I want to point out that, despite some people feeling uncomfortable seeing an infant at the breast, most states have jurisdiction protecting breastfeeding in public. In the state of Ohio, it is illegal to ask a nursing mother to stop nursing, move to a different location, or to even cover up (1). To do so may result in a civil lawsuit and charges of harassment.

For several generations now in the US, breastfeeding was not seen much outside of the home. As a result of this absence, breasts are perceived only as sexual tools, and breastfeeding is seen as a private act. Perhaps one way to look at this situation is to consider that, at one time, it was acceptable to exclude women and racial minorities from certain places and jobs. Now, though, as a society, we have decided this exclusion is wrong, unfair, and unconstitutional. But it often remains that, despite the societal shift, seeing others in these positions is still not what they consider to be 'normal' and can make these people very uncomfortable. The more often women chose to breastfeed outside the home, the more quickly it will again be considered an accepted and 'normal' practice by society.

Many women walk around in clothing that reveals far more skin and cleavage than a what is revealed by a breastfeeding mother. Breasts are everywhere. Provocative images of cleavage and breasts are plastered billboards, television shows, movie previews, fashion ads, beaches, bookstores, cereal boxes, animated children's shows, and the six o'clock news. These images are all considered acceptable. Most people do not feel uncomfortable when they see breasts. Some people are, however, uncomfortable when they see a baby nursing. Perhaps this discomfort is because the breasts are being used in a non-sexual way. Our society LOVES breasts, it seems--everywhere, at least, except in a baby's mouth--which is ironic, as the purpose and function of breasts is to nourish our young.

To say a woman should be 'discreet' and cover herself when she breastfeeds, well, I say if you have ever nursed a babe, then you know how illogical that mentality is. When nursing a young baby, positioning is often a challenge, and raising, lowering, and removing layers of clothing helps a mother observe her nursing infant and provide the most attentive care possible. And when nursing a baby older than eight to ten weeks, any covering will doubtless be pulled down, up or away by the impatient hands of the curious baby. Most importantly, it is not only unsafe to cover a baby's head with a blanket or towel, it can endanger the life of the baby. Many, many medical associations around the world have official statements advising against using any cover over a baby's head as it greatly increases the chances of heat stroke, suffocation and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

One thing that angers me more than just about anything else is when someone compares breastfeeding with deification. That is a disgusting statement. The only thing breastfeeding can be compared to is other methods of feeding a baby. Breastfeeding is not public sex or masturbation or passing gas or voiding in public. It is not a peep show or a political statement or a way to flip the proverbial bird to anyone who happens to see it. All it is is a way to feed a baby. If a baby bottle-feeding in that particular circumstance is not an issue--and there are very few places where it would be--then breastfeeding should not be an issue either. Because at the end of the day, that is really all it is about--feeding a baby.

When observing a mother and child breastfeeding in public, we must consider whose rights are most important in this situation. Is it the person who walks by and insists upon looking, gives in to being offended, and then voices that offense? No. Is it the nursing mother who has chosen to nourish her child in the healthiest, most natural way possible? Again, I would be inclined to say no. Even though a woman has the legal right to breastfeed whenever, wherever, we must not think about it as a woman's right to breastfeed. We must rather think of it as a baby's right to eat.

If someone is uncomfortable seeing a woman breastfeed, then by all means, they should not look. Perhaps they should even throw a blanket over their own heads. But an individual's personal kinks and sexual proclivities should not dictate how women feed their children. It is chauvinistic and patriarchal.


There are several public service announcements from around the world that highlight the importance and acceptance of breastfeeding.

From Canada, Sudbury District Health Unit--Breastfeeding Commercial:



From UNICEF, Importance of Breastfeeding Public Service Announcement:



From Puerto Rico, Dar la Teta es Dar la Vida (To Give the Breast is to Give Life), one of the most beautiful and heartfelt videos I have ever seen:



From Australia, Australian Breastfeeding Association advertisement:



Another from Australia, Australian Breastfeeding Association advertisement:



From Spain:



From Bulgaria:



From the United States:



Another from the United States:





Notes:

(1) A Current Summary of Breastfeeding Legislation in the US: Ohio, http://www.llli.org/Law/Bills31b.html

Comic: Parenting by Jim Borgman

film scrutinizes breastfeeding culture

A new film, Formula Fed in America, publicly questions the health epidemics that the American population face today, linking these health issues to the decline of breastfeeding in our culture. The marketing of breast milk substitutes has severely endangered the biological normality of breast milk. Formula Fed in America brings into the spotlight how people view breastfeeding mothers, wholeheartedly accept breast milk substitutes as "normal," and pinpoints on how "money, power, and influence mean that few people understand the critical importance of our first food, breast milk."

Formula Fed in America is currently filming and is due to be released Spring 2010, and includes interviews with two of my favorite staunch breastfeeding supporters, Dr. Jack Newman, founder of the Newman Breastfeeding Clinic and Institute, located in Toronto, and anthropologist Kathryn Dettwyler, PhD. The following is a preview of the film. It seems like it will be The Business of Being Born of breastfeeding!

thank you for nursing in public

I began breastfeeding in public shortly after Eva was born, and at the time, I had no idea how significant the act actually is.

When I’m out, I *rarely* see a mama nursing her baby. A while back, we went out for lunch at a local restaurant. I saw a new mama with a few week old baby, and she had Lanolin tucked into the bottle-net of her diaper bag. She did not nurse (and I watched like a hawk), and even though she did not, I was so excited to see another nursing mama—and I would have felt compelled to say something encouraging to her if she had nursed the little one in the restaurant.

When I was visiting family this past spring, a mama was there with her husband and their two kids (2 years and 4 months). The guest list included her husband, her parents, David, me, and all of our children (all of whom had been/are currently being nursed and are used to seeing a nursing baby). But when it was time for the baby to nurse, she left the room. Now, the first time she did this, we were eating dinner and I thought maybe she was hoping to find a more comfortable place to nurse. But, later that day, she left the room again--and this time, Esme and I were rocking quietly in a chair, nursing--and we were the only other ones in the room!

Her behavior made me feel awkward. I wanted to ask her why she kept leaving. There were comfortable places to sit, and the atmosphere was quiet, no matter where we were in the house. *I* sure as hell don’t mind if she nurses! I was nursing my own child throughout the day! And I do not leave to nurse—I nurse with whoever is in the room with us at the moment, wherever we are. It does not bother me, and I dedicate myself to making it normal for whoever is sitting around us. I talk about nursing. I answer questions. I make sure people know it’s normal, legal, and healthy.

Needless to say, I did not ask why she kept leaving, though I did tell her she could stay. Many times. I made that clear.

Another situation: David, Eva, Esme and I dropped in to visit someone at work one afternoon. She loves to see the girls when we stop by, so I walked back to her office so the girls could say hello, and Esme begins making it clear that she wants mama milk. I excused myself, and said, "Esme is ready to nurse. We will be around!"

But then, she said, in a rush, "Oh! Well, here, I am done in here, so you can use the office!"

I declined. She insisted. I relented, though I should not have. I did not want to go into the whole "Nursing-in-public-is-protected-by-law-in-the-state-of-Ohio-and-I-am-allowed-to-breastfeed-whenever-and-wherever-my-baby-needs-to" spiel when it seemed like, from her body language and tone of voice, that she was uncomfortable with the idea of me breastfeeding in the workplace.

[By the way, she recently had a baby boy, who, at five months, is still drinking only mamas milk.]

This situation is completely different from another experience I had at my work when we lived in Wisconsin. When I was on maternity leave, I stopped by to visit my colleagues and show off sweet, newborn Esme. When I went back to see my then manager in his office, we ended up having a good long talk, during part of which Esme nursed. He was at ease the whole time and completely supportive of my nursing in public. Perhaps I owe this to his dear wife, who is a La Lache League Leader and who nursed their two children for 2+ years each.

When we were in Disney World last summer, I saw two or three women nursing. The most significant was a mama who was nursing her three year old in line for and during The Enchanted Tiki Room show. A Spanish-speaking woman, she nursed over the top of her tank top in the front row (of a circular auditorium--I nursed about six seats down, made eye contact, and smiled. I do not speak Spanish, otherwise I would have commended her! An absolutely wonderful experience!

But there is another young mama I know who is uncomfortable nursing in front of others. I do not know her very well, but I want her to know that it is important to nurse in public. It is a simple act, yet at the same time, it is a momentous act.

How many times do you see a nursing mama when you are out? What do you do? Do you smile at her? Do you just go on with your business as if the act of breastfeeding is completely normal (because it is!)? Do you say encouraging words?

I never know quite what to do, though it is so seldom that I see a mama nursing in public that I always want to do something to acknowledge her act in a positive way (though I can always trust Eva to say something along the lines of, "Look, Mama! She nurses her baby, too!"). When someone says something positive to me, or just makes eye contact and smiles, it makes me feel good to know that someone appreciates the significance of breastfeeding in public—and the significance of breastfeeding in general!

I printed up some notes (the image at the top of this entry), little business cards, with a few words of thanks to hand out to the NIP mamas I see. I figure it is another important and essential step that I need to take to make a return to breastfeeding as the norm in our culture. I included the International Breastfeeding Symbol on the card, but since since I travel so much, I did not include any specific state legislation.

Here is a beautiful breastfeeding letter from Best of Craigslist. It brings tears to my eyes:

Date: 2006-11-21, 10:07PM PST

I happened to be on an Airplane
from Shrevesport two weeks ago. Those tend to be small and crowded.

I sat next to a young lady, perhaps 20 or so. She was carrying a small
child, who was quite unhappy with the pressure changes and all.

She got up several times to go to the bathroom, each time I had to rise to
let her out. I knew she was comforting the child, I even asked her if she
wished the aisle seat.

She blushed and said she preferred the inside seat. The flight got a little rough,
the seat belt light came on along with a warning from the Captain, and he
wasn’t kidding, it got very rough.

She looked quite miserable, the child was crying. The ears of the very young are quite sensitive, they have not learned to compensate so nursing is very beneficial at times like that.

When the flight began to calm I mentioned to her that it was all right to comfort her child at her seat, I did not mind.

She smiled and thanked me, I suppose the fact that I am obviously a bit grandfatherly relaxed her. So she did, I simply read my book. Several around noticed but none took offense.

One funny thing, the steward came by, a young man of perhaps 30 or so,
bringing soft drinks. This was after things had settled down a bit. She was
asleep, as was the child. It had a solid locklip on her breast, both were quite
content. He asked me if my daughter wanted anything, I got some Orange juice
for her and set it on her tray. She woke up soon after, drank it and thanked me.

I even got to hold the child for awhile, a wonderful feeling bringing back
some memories of my youth and my own children.

I confess to a small tear in my eyes at touching a hand nearly as small as
my index finger.
Perhaps my being much older makes a difference, but breastfeeding is a
wonderful thing to see. Even as a male, a tiny child pressing to my chest feels
just fine.

Look down on it all you wish, those who do are fools. Women should feed their children as nature intended, they will be stronger and healthier as a result. I see nothing wrong with it, if bashful or in a highly public place, a simple blanket will suffice. If not, that does not matter, it did not for the young lady sharing a long trip with me.

My wife nursed ours until they turned to solid foods, often in public. Not one time did anyone say anything.

It might be time for some to rub a bit of the blue off their noses, this is a
very silly thing to take any offense at. Courtesy would dictate that we simply
go on our way and let the young mothers be.

It is just nature at work.

The following is a NIP story I read on Mothering a while back. It is an uplifting story, and I saved it because I did not want it to be lost for eternity in the forum-abyss!

About a year ago i was out with a friend who was just getting used to NIP
with her 3 month old daughter. We were in a coffee shop (Tinderbox, GLasgow, UK if anyone is interested). I'd been NIP in there from when DD was 10 days old so it seemed a good place for her to take the plunge.

Anyway babe woke, mama got to nursing.

An old man, at the next table, immediately began to grumble and mutter.
Soon he was loud enough that we could hear the grumblings of "disGUSting" and
"public decency" and "should be ashamed". I just held my friend's eye contact
and gave her my "Your legal right!" look (legally protected in the UK to
NIP).

A few moments of this passed and then a member of staff passed, clearing
tables. Old man pipes up "Aren't you going to do anything about her feeding THAT
in here!? It's disgusting! They should be thrown out!" My friend was getting
twitchy. I put a hand on her arm, and said "steady" under my breath.

The member of staff, a boy of about 18, looked at the old man, looked at us
and said "one moment sir" to the old guy. He vanished. A moment later he
returned with a paper cup and lid. He put the paper cup on the old guy's table,
picked his half-drunk coffee up, poured it into the cup, put the lid on and then
holding the cup out to the old guy said "You can't see them from outside, which
is where you're going now."

The old guy had a face like THUNDER but he left. We smiled sweetly and
BROADLY at him as he left.I could have KISSED that boy! They have a BF-friendly attitude in there but this is seriously fabulous!

Check out Nursing is Normal, a photographic display of mothers nursing in public places. The NIN Project was started by Kathy O'Brien (a doula and photographer in Fort Worth, Texas) with the intention of helping women to feel comfortable nursing in public.

Here is a Breastfeeding Report Card and other noteworthy breastfeeding information, mostly statistics, but the information about the survey is interesting, too.

Also, First Right is a site that protects breastfeeding and promotes it as the cultural and biological norm. On this site, breastfeeding discrimination can be reported, and action against discrimination is organized.

One more, an awesome site where you can buy the International Breastfeeding Symbol in a variety of formats--free shipping!

positive breastfeeding images...accidentally

It sometimes seems that positive breastfeeding images are hard to come by, even though, as we all know, breast is best. That is why I have taken a personal pledge of being a Lactivist and diving headfirst into a positive breastfeeding campaign. If you did not already know, lactivism is positive breastfeeding activism. The main goal of Lactivism is creating change due to positive action. It can take many forms, including working to help get laws enacted to support breastfeeding mothers and their children, educating mothers and mothers-to-be on the benefits of breastfeeding and the disadvantages of supplementing with formula, and demonstrating against those who interfere with the nursing relationship between mother and child by organizing nurse-ins, letter writing campaigns, etc. These are only a few examples (MDC). As a lactivist, I have heard of oodles of unfortunate experiences of other nursing mothers, some of them even absurd! One outdoor theater did not allow any food or drinks, including breastfeeding, because "it attracts bees" (btw, I have nursed for a fair number of years now, and never once has a bee shown any interest in my breastmilk--my shampoo, however, maybe). With every aspect of the normality of breastfeeding in mind, I strive to educate, reinforce, and demonstrate with positive breastfeeding images, or accidental images, if you will. What I mean by accidental coincides with the idea that the act breastfeeding, of nourishing ones young, is normal. Human beings are mammals. Female mammals have the biological ability to produce species specific milk to nourish and sustain their young. As human mammals, women--mothers--are provided with the gift of breastfeeding. Of being able to produce the perfect substance to make their young grow strong, to sustain them for up to one year (and in some cases, even longer) on just breastmilk alone. Breastmilk produced by a mother contains hundreds of unreproducible and unmeasurable complex compounds which are tailored to each baby and his/her own specific needs at that exact moment. We cannot even begin to understand these compounds, let alone duplicate them in any supplement or commercial formula. We know breastmilk is the optimum infant food, that it stands far surperior to anything else we could feed our babies. This magnificant substance is magical. It is magical in so many ways. And at the same time, breastmilk is absolutely the opposite of magical. At some point, we must draw a line and stop thinking of breastmilk as something remarkable. Breastmilk is just normal, healthy babyfood, after all. In order to prove to the rest of the world that breastfeeding is normal, healthy, accepted, and not inappropriate or indecent, we must seek out positive breastfeeding images, unintended moments that show how normal and beautiful breastfeeding is. These can be found almost everywhere, from trashy tabloid magazines to childrens literature, from international pro-breastfeeding campaigns to the tears in your great-grandmother's eyes as she relays her fond memories of nursing her children to sleep in a rocking chair in front of the fire. Here are a few examples of positive and accidental/unintended breastfeeding images that I have compiled: -Hollywood: An article in a December 2008 or January 2009 tabloid about the "Best Breasts in Hollywood." The award was shared by two respected actresses, Salma Hayek and Jessica Alba. Though it was not mentioned in the article, both women were breastfeeding their children at the time of the publication, and both of these famous breastfeeding women are loud supporters of the importance of breastfeeding. (I am still in search of the article and the source.) -Children's literature: Teddy Rabbit by Kathy Stinson -- The last illustration in the book is of the mother sitting in the grass. With one side of her top down, she is nursing a baby, another child standing behind her. It is a positive image in that breastfeeding is not the focus of the story at all, rather a peaceful moment shared with family: Teddy Rabbit by Kathy Stinson -Artistic and photographic collections: Nursing is Normal is a photographic display of nursing moms in public settings, now in Madison, WI, through 2009: Nursing is Normal -Educational television for children: Mr. Rogers features animal babies and human babies drinking their mothers' milk. -International campaigns: La Teta! To give the breast is to give life! A absolutely delightful and beautiful public information broadcast from Puerto Rico. It is akin to a music video, featuring breastfeeding and extended breastfeeding (or, rather, normal breastfeeding). This is my favorite positive breastfeeding image I have come across yet. The joy depicted in this video needs no explanation.