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A quiet place: breastfeeding in whose public?

Article Excerpt
It is unnecessary to defend breastfeeding in public. To me, it's like walking in public. It's a basic human right. For others, however--those who live in a bottle-feeding culture with little or no apparent exposure to breastfeeding--the act is a private matter. How little they understand breastfeeding.

In the last month I have heard of four dramatic incidents involving breastfeeding in public, and the frequency of such reports makes me realize that the subject strikes a deep chord with the American public. I am hopeful that the retuning of this deep chord means that we are actually on the verge of becoming a breastfeeding culture.

In June, www.mothering.com reported on a demonstration by breastfeeding moms outside ABC headquarters in New York City. The lactivists were protesting comments by Barbara Walters that she and others felt "very uncomfortable" when they saw a mother breastfeeding her baby next to them on a plane.

Later that month, Seattle's ABC news commentator Ken Schram defended Walters when he compared public breastfeeding to public urinating, saying, "Now, I know we're supposed to be living in an enlightened society and all, but I'll tell you what: when some woman sitting next to you pops it out and starts suckling little Johnny or Suzie, I think it makes most people uncomtortable! Yeah, I know. It's natural. Well, so is urinating, but most folks don't up and pee in a glass jar in the middle of the mall."

In response to this outrageous comment, 150 Mothering readers and other breastfeeding supporters gathered at the Seattle Center on June 27. Schram not only failed to apologize, he implied that brazen breastfeeding mothers were the problem. "A little modesty goes a long way," he said...

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