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Boobs on View
By now the 200 woman-strong Nurse-In that took place in front of ABC studios (in 90 degree heat, I might add) has been written about and blogged to death, but I have to say it is truly beyond me why- given how incredibly offensive people are to one another without breasts being involved- this is has to be such an issue.
It is completely absurd that Barbara Walters, a woman who wrote a book called How to Talk With Practically Anybody About Practically Anything, a woman who started a career as a journalist in the early 1960's, could feel so "uncomfortable" when seated near someone doing something as banal as breastfeeding her child. Here is a woman who asks politicians and celebrities some of the most intrusive and annoying questions and she can't handle this small, non-verbal, entirely innocuous gesture. What is her problem?
As for Elizabeth Hasselbeck, she's entitled to breast feed or not, but- and I'm speaking as a new mother who is thrilled by many of my kid's "firsts"- soliciting applause for giving her child a bottle of formula is just dopey.
I'm glad people reacted strongly to these supposedly casual comments. Television programs that are watched by so many people and are so potentially influential really do women an incredible disservice by enforcing the idea that we should be ashamed of our bodies, while at the same time waving the "Girl Power" flag.
So, Ms. Walters was offended by spying a tiny fragment of breast. Well, I am offended absolutely constantly by the much much, much more nasty things I have to hear that people shriek into their cell phones. It is much easier to delicately avert one's eyes than it is to close one's ears to things like this, while one is sitting in a restaurant:
"It's not disgusting, it's a medical problem I have with my foreskin!"
For my part, I would love to be more comfortable nursing Felix in public. I hate the way, even at home when people are over, I do feel inclined to retreat to the bedroom to feed him. But this is a problem of my mind, not my breasts. Just last week, I marveled at how easily my friend fed her daughter. She was so discreet that I doubt even the queasy, keen-eyed Ms. Walters would have noticed. I have neither the coordination nor Felix's cooperation to do this very well. Felix gets distracted, pops his head off and looks around to see who's talking, what's happening, enjoys a break, contemplates world events, thinks about the dog, and burps before picking up where he left off. If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can encourage him to do his ruminating after he's eaten, I would love to hear them, because I do get self-conscious.
The fact that breast feeding legislation is pending is also ridiculous and disappointing in a time where people regularly wear clothes that expose much more flesh than a nursing mother does (except me, see above), and I truly don't understand why it has to be such an issue. (By the way, a quick glance at the New York Times article that mentions the legal vicissitudes is incredible- check out the discussion of, ahem, "spillage.") All along, throughout my pregnancy, at the hospital and through the pediatrician, I have gotten nothing but encouragement to breastfeed, and only one relative has looked at me fish-eyed and said "So how long are you going to keep doing that?" So why is this such a problem for the world? Who is so sensitive and so bothered? And why are these tremulous types always the ones who stare?
posted by Elise at 12:59 PM
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