Ban the Boobs
Recently, New York author Michael Crook caused quite a stir by writing a scathing blog post regarding women breastfeeding in public, specifically in Target. He claims that women should face a fine and JAIL TIME for the “reckless abandon” they show by breastfeeding in public. He even goes so far as saying hugging should be done in private.
As much as I do not want to give an ounce of my attention (or yours) to this self-righteous weirdo, or add fuel to his fire, I feel compelled to insert myself into the matter.
Personally, I didn’t breastfeed. It was the right choice for my family. I don’t want to see an indecent amount of cleavage hanging out at my local Target produce section either, but that isn’t the real issue. If we could just get those darn infants to quit being hungry in public! How dare they demand food when their mothers are trying to suss out the best deal on organic pears!
Does this guy really think women ENJOY having any part/area of their breasts exposed in public? Give me a break! Despite what this guy seems to view as a woman parading around hoping every head turns in her boob-baring direction, I don’t see Hugh Hefner scouring the local supermarket looking for talent. Breastfeeding is not a glamorous job (and yes, it IS a job). It’s uncomfortable at best, downright painful at worst and, to some of the more shy/conservative women, it’s a little bit embarrassing. Did I mention inconvenient? Because I can’t think of a single thing about breastfeeding that would make my life easier. So now, women who choose to breastfeed their children are supposed to deal with everything I just mentioned AND they have to worry about some yahoo who’s afraid of a little epidermis? Please.
Look, women tend to have this idea that there’s only one right way to parent a child and if they aren’t doing it the same way as JoAnne down the street, then one of them is “doing it wrong.” Guess what? If there’s more than one way to skin a cat then there’s definitely more than one way to raise a child. Men or, should I say, adult children like this author, don’t deserve your time and energy. Think of all the needy children he could’ve helped by using his time to volunteer in a soup kitchen, rather than writing this careless and ignorant blog post. Instead, he chose to pick on hungry children’s mothers for daring to feed them. As Dr. Phil says, common sense just ain’t common enough anymore.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
You hit that nail right on the head. Never once have I gone out thinking “man, I can’t wait until she starts screaming in the middle of the store so I whip out my boob in front of everybody!” Quite the opposite in fact. Usually I am praying that we can just make it in and back out as fast as possible. That guy is a waste of oxygen.
LOL. Yes he is! I haven’t seen you on the cover of Playboy yet, even with all your “reckless abandon” so I guess you better have another kid and continue to lurk around Target. 😉
Quite honestly, I’ve watched many women breastfeeding and only once did I see a breast. That occurred when the father decided to help and exposed the woman during communion at church. (She quickly recovered.) I think I am the only woman who had trouble feeding discreetly so I would find a private spot to start. I finally got the hang of it watching other women. I liked the feed-in protest. Great idea. Each person needs to choose what is right for their baby.