I was with you -- cellphone yakkers, unsupervised children (and their need-to-be-supervised parents), SUVs getting the best of both worlds, and secondhand smoke -- until you got to breastfeeding.
Unlike any of the aforementioned, breastfeeding doesn't impose upon you or your space in any way, shape, or form. Breastfeeding and the breastfed don't enjoy any special legislative loopholes at the expense of others, and breastfeeding certainly isn't the same or even comparable to taking a dump.
Of all the things on the list, breastfeeding is the only thing mentioned that actually is natural. I'm not so sure about beautiful though as a new breastfeeding mother may well be cringing from the pain. It's not especially beautiful but then it's not ugly in any way either -- nor is it running around unchecked, bellowing away in my ear about things I couldn't care less about, filling up my lungs against my will, or riding the tail end of my car.

Breastfeeding is a sight -- not a sound, a taste, smell, or violation of physical space. If the only opposition is visual, one might try some blacked out sunglasses because if breastfeeding is offensive, there are few choice other things one might find downright blinding.

I'm sure most people will agree with some -- and not all -- items on my list.

As for breastfeeding, I say that, as with smoking, every business should decide whether they wish to permit it on their premises. Why not?

Instead, states are passing laws, forcing businesses to allow public breastfeeding whether they want it or not.

the difference is that you're not likely to develop a health problem from seeing somebody breastfeeding.

Diana echoed my sentiments exactly.

Why not, you ask, in regard to breast-feeding? Because the act of feeding an infant is qualitatively different from the act of indulging in a habit that might be harmful to the health of the people around you. I feel that people have every right to decide whether or not they wish to smoke; I have every right not to inhale cigarette smoke when I have decided not to smoke cigarettes myself. I do not have the right to ask a woman to refrain from feeding her child in public. If the sight of a nursing infant offends you, you have the option of averting your gaze - if you choose to smoke in public, the people around you do not, unfortunately, have the option of ceasing to breathe until you're done.

I with Diana on this. Good arguments on all points except the breastfeeding one. I find most Americans and anglo-canadians pretty puritanical when it comes to breast feeding. I think it a beautiful sight to see the mother and child so connected. But then I feel wonder looking at the birds on my window ledge...

"I do not have the right to ask a woman to refrain from feeding her child in public."

In "public"?

But why can't a private store owner determine what activities are permitted in his or her store? Because we now call private stores "public"?

Why should it matter whether breatfeeding is good or bad, natural or not? Some stores require a dress code.

Why shouldn't every private business have the right to set its own policy? Why does "society as a whole" get to decide for the storeowner?

because a private business doesn't get to decide whether it gets to harm the health of its employees.

mark: "because a private business doesn't get to decide whether it gets to harm the health of its employees."

So if a bookstore forbids a customer from breastfeeding on its premises, then that harms the health of the bookstore clerk?

If not, you haven't answered my question.

Nobody forces a mother (or father or child) from entering a restaurant or bookstore. If they can't be parted from their children, or the mother must breastfeed, they (like cell phone users) should seek a venue that permits it, and I'll find one that doesn't.

Right now, they're permitted everywhere (by law), and those who want to avoid them don't have a choice.

Why force breastfeeding (or cell phones, or children) onto all stores? Why not let stores set their own policy? Yes, it may be inconvenient for breastfeeding moms or kids or cell phone users to find a place that permits them, but that inconvenience would be spread equally among those who welcome them and those who don't. Right now, the law comes down on one side, to the detriment of the other.

sorry, i was referring to smoking, not breastfeeding.

seriously thomas, what is your specific oppostion(s) to breastfeeding?

it's not the same (imposition) on any level as the other things you've (i think, justifiably) noted...

when breastfeeding makes the outlaw list, please oh please can we add the adjustment of one's genitals?!

#10
diana hartman

when breastfeeding makes the outlaw list, please oh please can we add the adjustment of one's genitals?!

Pouhahaha :D That was choice.

Diana "seriously thomas, what is your specific oppostion(s) to breastfeeding?"

If moms were more humble, politely asking permission of the store and respecting the store's decision whatever it may be, I may be more sympathetic to them.

It's the arrogance of the moms (and of so many other groups) that most upsets me. This attitude that one has a Right to do whatever one wishes, in every venue, regardless of others' wishes -- even of those who actually own the venue.

People don't ask anymore, they demand, then run to their lawyers if they don't get whatever they want.

Diana "when breastfeeding makes the outlaw list, please oh please can we add the adjustment of one's genitals?!"

No matter how often I repeat this, people don't seem to get it. I never said anything about an "outlaw list" -- merely that each store owner should be free to set his or her own rules.

If you wish to forbid genital adjustment in your store, by all means, do so. Post the rules, then I can decide whether or not I wish to patronize your store.

JELIEL:"Pouhahaha :D That was choice."

But it entirely missed my point. (See # 12)

TMS - legally requiring full burkas would solve your problem with breasts

troll

troll "legally requiring full burkas would solve your problem with breasts"

But I don't want legal requirements. That's my whole point. Let every venue-owner decide what to permit, and let individuals seek out venues that choose to welcome them.

It's curious that so many want the state to force others to accept their behavioral choices.

You can't let individuals set bounderies on the public. Talking monkeys that we are, we'll go back to the days of segregation in no time. That's where government (a good one if ever there were one) steps in.

Let store owner or landlords or whoever have those rights and no one with children will ever get a lease for an appartment.

People who are harmless and of no danger to anyone will be discriminated against for no other reason than their dress.

Sorry no fat people in my store, scares the customers away.

Woe woe woe you don't think yer commin in my store with a blue mohawk?

no gays allowed

shall I continue?

Talking monkeys need guidelines/laws or else it's monkey-poo throwing time. They can't be trusted to do the right thing unless all other options have run out.

JELIEL "Talking monkeys need guidelines/laws or else it's monkey-poo throwing time. They can't be trusted to do the right thing unless all other options have run out."

If we can't be trusted with freedom, how can we be trusted with democracy?

And how to distuingish the Talking Monkeys from the Wise Ones who dictate those guidelines/laws to the Talking Monkeys?

How can I know that the store owners are the Talking Monkeys? Maybe it's the legislators in Sacramento and Washington who are the Talking Monkeys? All the more reason to empower store owners.

Freedom is an illusion.

When you live in a community, you must forfeit freedom. It's part of the deal. You want freedom, I recommend a Buddhist retreat in a cave meditating on liberation. Otherwise, you must bite the bullet and deal with the simple facts that laws are needed to govern, there must be a hierarchy (or else, monkey-poo) and that people no matter what will always behave in a way that doesn't fit into your filter of how things should be.

There's plenty of things that bug me about people, sometimes I rant about them to vent, but there's no point in fretting on things that cannot change, like talking monkeys.

I am disappointed and exhausted by the men who are really jealous of a hungry baby getting a breast, but don't mind a breast hanging out of a piece of
clothing. And for the women who are really having guilt about not breastfeeding/ or insecurity intelligence issues about not being breastfed--you only diminish yourself when you are against something like breastfeeding in public--since breast milk is a uniquely female product. (At least the men have a small excuse with their obvious ignorance.)
Since there is no one to stand up for the hungry baby, I must.
And if this were a majority breastfed culture, no one would be offended.
Those breastfed babies should get to eat just like all the rest of us---no one EVER asks a woman/man to stop feeding their bottle-fed baby in public or ask for laws against it in stores, etc.

And watch around for all those crying babies in public--they are 20 feet away from their mother housed in a stroller/car seat and not being held.
I wish all those babies would get a breast and the rest of us could get some quiet.

Please, please examine your lack of breastmilk exposure--perhaps that is why you are so offended by it. It has everything to do with that--not the act of seeing a hungry baby being fed--which has absolutely nothing to do with your various elimination analogies.

It's interesting that of the various items I listed, it was breastfeeding that struck a nerve.

Yet it's not only breastfeeding that annoys me, but children as a whole. Babies, tots, teens, the whole breed.

I'd like a re-segregation of society. Not along racial or sexual lines, but along age. I'd like a society that "puts children in their place," so that "children are seen and not heard."

I'd like to see more adult-only venues. Adult only restaurants. Adult only theaters. Adult only flights. Adult only residential buildings. I'd like venues to be free to offer me my choice, without interference from the state.

But how is that possible? Like the cell phone yakkers, the mommies and daddies are everywhere, with their oversized minivans ferrying their brood about. And their political lobby is powerful.

I think formula feeding is offending because it is harming the baby. Ban that too. Let's also ban bloggers who write offending blogs because I sure can't just move my eyes to another site.

You'd have a hard time knowing that I was breastfeeding my baby but I'm sure you would notice if I didn't. That screaming and yelling would certainly get on your nerves. If you want to live in a world with no cell phones and no cigaretts and no babies and children, etc. I suggest Mars. I hear it is warm this time of year.

Chanda: "I think formula feeding is offending because it is harming the baby. Ban that too. ... If you want to live in a world with no cell phones and no cigaretts and no babies and children, etc. I suggest Mars. I hear it is warm this time of year."

No need to ban anything, or to take it to Mars. Surely, we can share the planet? Some stores for adults only, some for families. Some for cell phone users, some for those who value peace & quiet. That's fair, no?

Wow, I too am struck by the breastfeeding issues. I understand (not necessarily agree with, but understand) what you are saying about how private businesses should be able to make their own choices on what is "allowed" and what is not regarding breastfeeding, but I highly doubt that a business would stop a mother from bottle feeding their child, correct? It's all about the exposure of the breast, a part of a woman's body that is MEANT to nourish a baby. If you feel a store should be allowed to tell a mother she can't nurse her baby there, it should be an "all or nothing" rule where NO ONE can eat in there then- no adults with water bottles or snacks, no breastfeeding, no bottles, nothing. Now, I HIGHLY doubt THAT would happen. Until women are allowed to comfortably feed their babies wherever they want and whenever the baby is hungry, most people will continue to view breastfeeding as inappropriate, sexual, and dirty, which it is not in the least. It's not an "all or nothing" kind of issue, you (you as in those opposed to public nursing in general) are opposed to the issue of the breast, not of the feeding itself. That issue of your feelings regarding a breast as used for its intended purpose is a personal issue of your own that you need to deal with in your own way, it is nothing something we should have to change, or hide away in a changing room or rest room as if we're ashamed of mothering our children.

Most nursing moms are NOT like you make them out to be. Most of us DO nurse in public discreetly and comfortably without causing a scene. In fact, I bet you've walked past or maybe even locked eyes with a mother who's been nursing and not even known it. But sometimes, yes, it is noticeable and undeniable what a nursing mother is doing, whether it's because of what she's wearing, or it's hot and she doesn't want to smother her child with a coat or blanket, or the child unlatches and pulls away, it happens! It really shouldn't be this big huge issue that we have to fight over, and it always makes me really sad when people are against a mother being a mother and doing motherly things, like nursing! If you don't want to see it, don't leave your house. Now, I know that not leaving your house is not a reasonable option, just as expecting a mother to not feed her hungry baby or expecting a mother to nurse her baby in a restroom or smoldering car or in the rain are not reasonable options as well.

I don't mind women breastfeeding in places other than their own homes, though I must confess, I can hardly remember seeing such a thing in my neighborhood.

It is interesting that in this society we don't think twice about feeding a baby with a bottle,(artificial infant feeding), but are bothered by being reminded that we are MAMMALs, from the word mammary, referring to breasts or more specifically, to the glands which produce milk.
Are you also bothered by the sight of puppies nursing, or calves ? Yes, of course, I know you wouldn't be watching that in a book store or restaurant, but I'm interested in the workings of your psyche. We are a very twisted people.

I have to ask you a question, when was the last time you took you meal to the bathroom to eat while someone in the next stall was taking a 'dump'? Or tried to eat your meal under a blanket or coat when it was 90 degrees out? You wouldnt do either, but yet you expect our children to do so? Are they any less human than yourself, or have less rights? If you want to go somewhere that you dont have to watch people breastfeeding or hear children, go to a bar. I guarantee you'll be exposed to things far more hazardous to your health than breastfeeding and kids. Please excuse my typos, I am nursing my baby.

thomas, would you patronize an establishment that allowed mothers to bottle-feed?

Thomas posts: "Yet it's not only breastfeeding that annoys me, but children as a whole. Babies, tots, teens, the whole breed."

as if you never were one yourself, Thomas...please...even if you weren't breastfed (leave it alone people!), you were a baby, tot, and teen, and it's a good bet you cried in public at some point...can we retroactively impose restrictions upon you and your caretaker(s)?
as a former baby, tot, and teen, please realize you are still part of that "breed"...

"And how to distuingish the Talking Monkeys from the Wise Ones who dictate those guidelines/laws to the Talking Monkeys?"

the wise ones don't have a problem with particular restrictions/allowances and would've restricted/allowed without legislation...
the talking monkeys, on the other hand, have to be told that a breastfeeding mother doesn't fall under the heading of "compromising health and safety" or even "annoying"...

Thomas, Ah, I see your point! I agree. Businesses should be allowed to post "no cell phones", "no babies", "smoke here".

But (In my opinion) they should not be able to post "bring your babies, bring your food, feed your baby with a bottle, but NO breastfeeding".

Most laws read: "breastfeeding is not indecent exposure. mothers can breastfeed their children where ever they are otherwise allowed to be".

This law should be ok with you. If a business allows a mother and a baby, then they should (in my opinion) allow that child and mother to breastfeed. If a business does not allow parents with children, then there is no issue. supply and demand will either let the business flourish (patronized by those like you) or the business will dry up (boycotted by parents with children, and other men and women who do not care to support such a business).

Certainly you agree that breastfeeding needs to be protected in public places such as: government buildings, parks, community pools, public schools, public transportation, etc.

What of mothers (for example, the mom working at a book store) that has her care taker bring her baby to her to nurse on break or lunch? Is the business allowed to forbid the mother to nurse her baby? What if the business allowed another employee to feed their baby with a bottle while on break or at lunch? What if a mother wanted to pump while at work? Does the location of work matter? Government building, private business? Should a business be allowed for forbid a mother to pump while on break? Should businesses be allowed to forbid hiring of lactating women?

The laws on breastfeeding do NOT read: "mothers have a right to breastfeed where ever they want to be, whether they are allowed to be there or not."

I wonder... what if there was a Airline who advertised: "fly with us. No breastfeeding allowed on our planes." I guess if they told all their customers that when they made a reservation, that would be ok. Customers would have a choice to give their money to a different airline. But... what of what actually happens these days: a family, or a mother and her child make their reservations, board the plane, and then when they nurse, they are harassed, and forced to stop nursing, and left with a screaming child only hungry for what THE CHILD has a right to. Then the mother then gets ill (breast infection, or mastitis is a frequent result when nursing is suddenly halted for a period of time). Is this to be allowed? How do you feel about riding on a airplane next to a screaming kid, that would be quickly quieted and put to sleep by their mother's breast?

Thomas Sipos says "Speaking of rugrats, I'd pay extra to fly an airline that banned them."

I think that you can do this... I recall that private planes are yours for the hire. It might cost more money than you have though... better start saving up for that private jet!

But I think you are speaking of just paying $200 dollars more for a seat.... I'm not sure such a business model is effective. It might be worthy of your investigation.

"Thomas Sipos says "Speaking of rugrats, I'd pay extra to fly an airline that banned them.""

Just fly Hooters Air and demand that Hooters Air expand like Jetblue/Southwest. No decent parent would take their kids on a Hooters Air flight.

"Then there's public breastfeeding. Some say it's beautiful and natural. Well, taking a dump is also natural. I still don't want to see anyone doing it."

Well, actually, society generally does allow for infants to defecate in public, without all the brouhaha that surrounds breastfeeding in public. IMHO, the same reasoning should apply to nursing: parents can't be expected to remain cloistered in their homes, so we accept that babies will be performing necessary biological functions at stores and other public venues.

I agree that a few insane parents take infants to five star restaurants or the opera, and that is very rude. But for the most part, you'll see kids (and nursing babies) in malls and fast food restaurants, which seems perfectly tolerable. If you don't want to see a child nursing, look away. As others have said, it's hardly like the inescapable nuisance of smoke or phone gabbing.

All things have their place. If I need my cell on in a non-cell zone, it is for emergencies and it is on vibrate. When I'm at school it goes to vibrate as I leave my car and doesn't come back off till I'm back in there on the way home. Frankly I usually don't turn it back on in the car to save my road companions the annoyance of a swerving dangerous driver.

As for breastfeeding, I agree with some parts and not others. Each place should have a right to set standards yes. However, if a mall decides each store can set a standard, the mall need to provide a clean, NON BATHROOM STALL facility in which breastfeeding mothers can feed their hungry children. As a breastfeeding mom, I frankly don't want to watch a bottle feeding mom shove the extra two ounces of formula into her baby just to empty the bottle. Fat babies aren't cute. They're on a road to ill health. On the boob the baby stops and there's nothing to clean up. I'm getting off topic though.

If a restaurant doesn't want me to feed my child in it, why serve food. If it's so I don't expose my breast, have a place I can sit even if it's a booth in a corner away from prying eyes. All children need to eat, and denying a baby it's food is wrong regardless.

Breastfeeding is natural, and babies need to eat too, but looking away doesn't always work when you're sitting in a restaurant trying to down your own lunch & some earthmother in the next booth whips out a bulging tit to feed the kid. It's just not aesthetic or appetizing to the rest of us, any more than watching some poor soul having to be fed thru a trach-tube. Necessary, yes; appetizing, no.

Wow, Nancy. Your statement totally contradicts your first sentance that breastfeeding is natural. If you truly though it was, you wouldn't be so attracted to my bulging breast (I can't imagine my breast bulging, by the way). I'm sorry your mom propped you in a corner with some crap-filled bottle. Perhaps some therapy would help?

And you're seriously comparing breastfeeding to a trach-tube?

Why is it that out teenage girls can wear low cut shirt and pants which basically whip it all out for public display but, heaven forbid, a woman set a good example by being comfortable with her body and properly nurishing her child?

~Earthmother~

Nursing in public has only become taboo in recent years. I'm sorry that you feel boobs are only for sexual objects, and not for their intended use.
Why should a baby have less rights than you? A baby's right is to breastfeed, in America that right has been taken away from most babies. If babies are allowed to be fed bottles of toxic waste in public, why should they be banned from getting the nutrition they need?!

re: #15

how is feeding a baby a "behavioral choice?" a baby needs to eat, even in public! as others have said, it is hardly akin to smoking in public or blathering on a cell phone, and it is certainly NOTHING like "taking a dump." it's really sad that we live in a society where nourishing an infant is taboo.

you would do well to educate yourself before saying such uninformed, harmful things. attitudes like yours perpetuate ignorance and place a stigma on something about which people really shouldn't even think twice. a mother feeding her baby is natural and perfectly normal, no matter where they
might be.

I think formula feeding is obscene and offensive, so should I be able to ban that in my business? I think most everyone would agree that's wrong, and breasts should be no different.

I believe the real question is where do my rights end and someone else's begin? Cell phone users are traditionally bad drivers, so their right to use their phone is infringing seriously upon my right to expect other motorists to refrain from killing me. I agree that cell phone users then should turn off the phone and concentrate.

But breastfeeding is completely and totally different. By allowing businesses to restrict bfing in their stores, most businesses would likely ban it in order to accommodate anti-bf bigots...those fanatics that are okay with Hooters on every corner but are offended by my discreet nursing. This practically forces mothers to choose formula in order to go through their daily lives -- how can I shop for my family's food, mail letters, etc if I have to sprint home every hour to feed my newborn? That choice is poor all around -- nutritionally inferior, allows less bonding, and encourages obesity and allergies. There are experts that assert that bfing is directly tied to reduction of behavioral problems like ADD and reduction of obesity in children, along with myriad benefits for the mother. And yet I should be forced into a nutritional/emotional corner by those who find my "bulging" breast "unappetizing"? My right to breastfeed does not materially harm anyone else, and infringes minimally on someone else's enjoyment of a public place...therefore it doesn't pass a common sense test, much less a legal one for restricting it.

So you eat a few bites less because you're offended by me...judging by the obesity rates in this country, everyone could stand to eat a little less!

Can't people bottle breast milk? I realize it might not be possible to always breastfeed from a bottle (even in public), but when it's happening somewhere like an airplane where you're sitting literaly inches from someone else, (if there's any space between you at all) I don't think it's too much to ask that parents bring pumped and bottled breast milk with them (if they don't use formula).

Ok, I haven't read all the blogs but I read a few. Enough to compell me to add my own 2 cents.
So you know where I am coming from, I am breastfeeding my almost 1 year old as I write this.
Here in the US and many other western societies, there has been a negative opinion of breastfeeding for a very very long time. Which has negativly affected the childrens health. There is a whole world of information out there on the impacts of formula for a child as well tons of information which I will not go into detail about here.
However, the point I am making is that before this law, I would have been forced out of the majority of places or told to take my baby to a restroom and sit in the the dirty stall just to breastfeed my child. I didn't have much of a choice because most places said "NO BREASTFEEDING" thus confining me to my car during my outings. When my baby would cry I would have to leave. This allows us (breastfeeding mom's and their extra smart and healthy babies) to actually go to public places and become active parts of society.
And my point about western societies views?
By allowing breastfeeding women to openly feed their children in public, we as a society are telling the next generation of girls that it is ok and good for them to breastfeed. Hopefully the next generation will have a much higher rate of breastfeeding which will result in lower health care costs. And the government knows that.
By leaving everything up to the private sector to decide, we leave our lives up to those who have the most money. Private sector rules are a good idea to a point. But what happens when someone starts segregating again. No blacks, no hispanics, no whites, no women, no men. And without these laws in place to regulate what things a private person or sector can enforce, we would end up at the will of those in power. And we are a democracy are we not? How about a vote? :D

After reading everything and realizing that you dislike all children under the age of probably 28, I have realized something.
You don't have chilren, and have some serious issues. You should realize that 99.9999% of all people in the world will eventually end up having a child. Even if that child was not born to them. Oh and 100% of adults including yourself were once children. We do not allow those children to vote or decide laws for the country in any way, but they are still afforded rights within those laws. So if you think your opinion should hold weight, compare it up against all the voters out there that have children or remember being a child. You will find you are not in the majority or even close.
Now stop and take a few days to devote to research on breastfeeding. Now research the effects of breastfeeding on the public, now research the history of breastfeeding. Research the effects of a formula fed society. And lastly contemplate a completely childless society.
My opinion, as I am sure every rational mind in the world would agree, a world without children would be a sad sad place. Filled with death. Sure you would have some fun for a while but that would fade quickly. Then you would have to deal with all other people who spend millions of dollars on medical intervention trying to conceive.
That is what we are designed to do and there will be no rights taken away from anyone because of some man who has issues. You are entitled to rant about your dislikes the same as I am entitled to rant about your words. And just as someone else aready mentioned, there already are places that do not allow children. I can guarentee you won't be watching me breastfeed my child in a club, bar, and I will only go to hooters if there is a group gathering that I feel I need to attend. The same goes for the restraunt hineys. As well as flying hooters air. Before this law, the options for breastfeeding mothers with their children was almost as limited as the options I just gave you. The number 1 most natural thing for us as humans to do is to reproduce. It is the only thing that keeps us alive as a species. And providing for our children and the future generations is how we provide for our futures as well. Because they are the future. And breastfeeding them will help them be healthier, smarter, and more emotionally stable.
You have many options and you are only 1 man with many opinions. We are many Mothers and many babies with 1 opinion. Now we have just as many options.

As for bottle feeding breastmilk:
Lactation is a partnership. Without the baby, a partner is missing. Without a mommy, a partner is missing. Pumping/using a bottle should ideally be used only when the pair are separated, not when someone out there that has ISSUES with breastfeeding in public.

Pumping is better than nothing though. That live breastmilk is always better (despite the container) than boiled down milk meant for a calf/soybean based based milk with vitamins added. Our society does not value breastmilk. It values making money. And the pharmaceuticals do as well as the businees community that diminishes breastfeeding by only having 6-8 weeks maternity leave. And the medical community that gets their buildings, residencies, trips, lunches, etc. for paid for by knowing all about artificial baby milk formula and know absolutely NOTHING about breastfeeding. And until breastmilk becomes a real money maker, this type of crazy blog will continue.

And instead of the ladies (older and younger) getting upset by seeing a baby being breastfed in public and thinking back to their "inability" to breastfeed, they should be angry that they did not have the support to do it. Women are made to breastfeed, if others will allow it. Just like women are made to be pregnant. But being exposed to those who are having problems, it makes one think that the majority cannot.

Just with any health behavior, there is ideal, less ideal, and what occurs in reality.

But when your hangups because of your own personal experience impact another's positive health behaviors, please consider looking away.

Take care now.

I'll consider looking away if you consider being discrete. Seems like a fair deal to me.

Take yourself out of society if you don't like other people doing things that don't harm you in anyway. People will be different from you no matter what you say or the laws you set.
Learn to get along with people, wise guy.
Learn about breast feeding while you're at it.

Take yourself out of society if you don't like other people doing things that don't harm you in anyway.

When did it become so offensive to expect people to be considerate of others? It's the same attitude that allows people to gab loudly on their cellphones in otherwise quiet restaurants. ("I need to take this call and obviously it is unreasonable for you to expect me to go somewhere else for five minutes! It doesn't hurt you, so deal with it.")

Like I've said, I support the right of women to breastfeed in public. I only object to the attitude of some people that only their needs matter and everyone else can "deal with it." One wonders how that sort of woman has any hope of raising a child with manners, a child who is considerate of other people.

Thomas - I think you lost the argument before you even started! I get exactly what you're talking about, but then again, I read. The government has no business in private business. If, as you call them, venues, decided to pick and chose what they would and wouldn't allow then us, the customers, would help that same venue owner decide if he made the right choices by visiting said venue. It ain't hard to understand here people.
My kids are teens now, but they were never breast fed in public. Maybe you're just running into a bunch of ex-strippers with kids that like exposing themselves in public?
Remember...no shoes...no shirt...no service!

you don't need to watch someone breast feed. unless their is blinking lights or loud sounds right next to the mother you shouldn't be so tempted to complain. breast feeding isn't the same as blabbin away on a cell phone or taking a dump. do you sit on a toilet and eat your dinner in a public restroom? bfing is a quiet healthy thing. america sucks. some people are just so insecure with their own bodies and they have to take it out on other people. they are ignorant.
prove to me that all you anti breast feeding in public people aren't insecure? boobs are only made to be a sexual object by people.

"Like I've said, I support the right of women to breastfeed in public. I only object to the attitude of some people that only their needs matter and everyone else can "deal with it." One wonders how that sort of woman has any hope of raising a child with manners, a child who is considerate of other people. "


you know what, it might seem like that way to the person breast feeding. you aren't being considerate when you RUDELY ask someone to stop feeding their baby in that area. i realize that some moms should cover up more so the insecure people aren't bothered. you can just not watch.

What's a reason that's not just about you when you ask someone to stop breast feeding?
Name one reason a person isn't being considerate when they breast feed in public places (like a mall). Insecure people is the reason. You all are bothered by it because your minds are poisened. Boobs are sexually object. Formula feed your baby shit. You need to grow up. Don't eat in public. We will start being considerate when you start.

Actually, I've never heard anyone say, stop feeding your baby...it's usually more like...hey...put that boob away! Personally, I'm not a boob kinda guy, so it doesn't bother me...but if you're gonna whip it out...expect me to look at it...of course, I suspect I'll end up with a smack in the back of the head...but...such is life!

I think it's the prudishness of the US that really makes this a problem...I mean, I never hear of anyone complaining about the bare breasts on the beaches of Mallorca or places like that...I surely don't remember complaining...

What's a reason that's not just about you when you ask someone to stop breast feeding?

It is just about me. Just like it's "just about me" when I expect people not to yap on their cellphones at the top of their voices in restaurants.

Also, give me one reason why breastfeeding in the mall isn't all about you. It's not for your baby; you could breastfeed him/her in your car, at your home, or in the bathroom. It's about you and your desire to not be inconvenienced in any way by your child or anyone else.

Name one reason a person isn't being considerate when they breast feed in public places (like a mall).

Because they don't care if they're bothering people. (Unless of course they do care and try to be discreet, in which case there's nothing rude about it). You're a perfect example. You say that anyone who disagrees with you has been "poisoned." You refuse, absolutely, to consider how your behavior makes others feel. That seems to pretty much define "inconsiderate."

Don't eat in public.

Eating =/= public nudity.

You need to grow up.

Obviously. Because I'm the one getting emotional.... oh wait.

We will start being considerate when you start.

Done. I don't expose myself in public. I also, if you'll notice, argue that women do have a right to breastfeed in public. That is me taking into consideration the needs of others even if what they do might bother me. That is me being considerate.

My whole point is that non-breastfeeders should be tolerant (just deal with the fact that breastfeeding happens in public and look away, don't gawk or give women a hard time, etc.) AND breastfeeders should be considerate (try to cover up, etc.). Obviously an extremely self-centered person on either side would object to these requests.

Thomas M. Sipos?
Aren't you kinda famous?

wow you are a dumbass

you are insecure about yourself, dodger.

boobs are not sexual objects. that's where your mind has been fucked up. nudity or not, who cares? burn in hell.

you are insecure about yourself, dodger.

Do you believe that that addresses my arguments somehow?

boobs are not sexual objects. that's where your mind has been fucked up. nudity or not, who cares?

O_o That's news. In your world is the penis / vagina the only part of the human body that is sexualized? How very dull for you. As for my mind being fucked up... I don't know, I somehow managed to wrap my mind around the concepts manners and capitalizaion which is more than I can say for you.

burn in hell.

Charming. You kiss your baby with that mouth?

they may not be sexual...but they sure are sensuos???sensual??? Damn, I always forget that part of the conversation from Animal House!

All I know is, I flush all the urinals and toilets if I hear someone talking on the phone while pinching a loaf!

Here is a good article to read regarding these issues:

And for a more nuanced view, see: This link.
The author, Sydney Spiesel, is a pediatrician and associate clinical professor of pediatrics at Yale University's School of Medicine.

The doctor recommends breastfeeding as the best option and describes and explains several of the benefits, but notes that actual studies do not support the "overexuberant" claims of breastfeeding activists.

you have to draw the line somewhere. when someone tells you to do something that you truely don't think is right, are you going to do it? we try to be discrete. you CAN look away or go some place else.