5.20.2011

Food For Thought Friday: Time To Get Over It...

I'm going to get out the soap box.  Luckily it's not very dusty...

As of May 16, the City of Forest Park, GA has banned public breastfeeding of children over the age of two.  I don't even care what your opinions are about how long a child "should" be breastfed, here is what you should be angry about (if I may be so bold as to point out what should be upsetting to you): This law was passed as a stand against public nudity.  By that rationale, the age of the child should not matter.  It's only the first step toward taking away the right of a child to be fed in public. We should be outraged.

What is wrong with our culture? Why are we STILL not able to separate nudity from the job of a breast.  Not to mention the fact that we really contradict ourselves when we say that breast is best (it's actually a public health issue), and then say, "but not in public..."

When I get hungry, I eat in public.  I eat off a fork usually. Sure there are other options, I could use a spoon, or even a spork, but really, forks are best for the types of meals I eat. I don't know if it 'offends' anyone but I really don't care, because when I'm hungry, I eat. With a fork.

When a baby is hungry, they need to eat, even in public. They may take their food from a breast. Sure there are other options, but for the type of meals they eat, breast is the best.  It may 'offend' people, but I really don't care.  Why should a baby not be afforded the same rights I have when I am hungry in public?  The right to eat.

Can we please be done with this, now? Can we please just let babies eat and realize that it isn't about nudity, it is about a baby getting their basic needs met.  This is about adults being uncomfortable and unable to act like... say... adults, and taking rights away from children.

Soapbox being put back in soapbox closet, now.

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6 comments:

  1. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Couldn't have said it better.

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  2. Got to love the South

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  3. I agree totally!!! When they ban skimpy, barely there tops in public maybe I would reconsider but breasts are working body parts and need to be allowed to do their job!

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  4. I think the ban is a bad idea. But I also think breast feeding a two year old isn't the best idea. And while I understand that breasts are for nursing -- in the "olden days" a woman would have most likely been onto nursing another child by the time the previous child was two. So two year olds would traditionally be weaned.

    At some point in time nursing isn't about feeding the kid.

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  5. gosh golly 99% of the time no one knows when a baby is being breast fed in public...then there are that 1% that have to flaunt it which I disagree with. But for the 99% that are discreet...leave them be! As for nursing a 2 yr old? please.... they should be drinking from a cup by now....

    ReplyDelete

Comments are cool, being mean is not, so please... just don't do it. Hey, thanks!

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