Nurse-In at Target

I have no problem with public nudity, half the swimming pools and beaches I went to in Europe were topless and it was no big deal,  but if they are going to allow it then allow it across the board.   

 

Many stores that allow a woman to pull out her nomnoms won't even let a man in without a shirt, so I would simply ask for any rule to be consistent. 

 

Otherwise, if you're going to say "well a woman doesn't have a choice"... cmon of course she does, its called a pump or a restroom.  To require that inconvenience just for the oh-so-sensitive sensibilities of a handful of people is silly though, especially annoying considering how no one bats an eye at depictions of violence with people being shot or beaten, but if a nipple is seen children everywhere will be traumatized for life.

Um, yeah, I barely want to pee in a public restroom. And where do you think she's going to sit anyway? There aren't any lids on the toilets (illegal for public restrooms) so. . .on a sink? On the changing table? Nice. Bathrooms aren't designed for your lounging pleasure.

Nursing doesn't involve "public nudity" either. There's no reason any nudity should be involved (and if there IS a flash of nipple as the kid lets go I don't think anybody is going to die). A lot of women CAN'T pump, and why should they want to anyway? If your kid is with you that's just ridiculous. Pumping is for when your kid isn't with you.

I also say GO MOMS! It's sad that it's even an issue. Nobody blinks an eye if you walk into a store feeding your baby a bottle full of corn syrup and hydrogenated oil (formula). A baby has to eat.

Just calling a woman's breasts "nomnoms" speaks volumes in itself.

 

I think women should be allowed to breastfeed in public but having said that, please do it discreetly rather than just pulling out a breast and attaching a child and use a light baby blanket to cover up both baby and mom's breast.  I personally find it more acceptable than some couples who are necking, hugging, kissing (not just a peck hello or goodbye) in public.  

Ok, to be fair, this woman sat down on the floor in the middle of the women's department to feed her child. How is that appropriate?  She was disruptive in that other people couldn't reach merchandise and could have easily tripped over her if not paying attention. 

 

While I agree that breast feeding is a natural thing and shouldn't be hidden, you have to use some common sense. Sitting down n the middle of the sales floor to do it is only TRYING to cause a scene and disturbance.  The employees also offered her a fitting room so she could sit on a bench while she breast fed but that wouldn't have caused as much of a scene.....sitting in the middle of the floor was much more appropriate I guess. 

 

This lady was in the wrong. Pure and simple. 

Well, I guess it would depend on what they would do if someone sat on the floor to do anything else. I'm pretty sure I could plop down on the floor in the middle of the ladies' section at the local Target to check my e-mails on my phone, and they wouldn't do anything. The ladies' section here is not crowded. If it was crowded, yeah, that's rude.

 

I guess my question is "would you sit on the floor to check your emails?". Probably not, because, well, it's weird and there are more comfortable places to sit and do that.   And in the end, you have more common sense than to do it. 

That I have a sense of humor?  

 

Well, nudity is in itself natural, as is relieving oneself, or sex for that matter.   So IMO the natural excuse has to be thrown out the window, unless again its universally applied.

 

I support breast feeding in public and I don't think its a big deal, but just like to see universal rules that apply to all equally and generally speaking for people just to lighten up in general.    

 

Having lived/visited all over including most of Europe and SE Asia, I can certainly say that the United States has the most obvious polar extremes between glorification of sex in media (more than elsewhere just about every song on the radio and pop star is sex related, not to mention TV and movies and even commercials... as they say, sex sells) and yet quite a bit of prudeness in personal lives and laws.

Edited by Ducman69 - 12/29/11 at 4:53pm

If a man, in the context of finding breasts attractive, refers to breasts as nomnoms, that's just creepy and. . .eww. In the context of baby's lunch, though, I don't see anything inappropriate about it.

LOL, I didn't know that mothers everywhere were having nurse-ins everywhere. They did it here. Then the manager was quoted in the newspaper article as saying something fairly lame (that he was glad they stayed in the maternity section, since "that's the appropriate place for it" ) so now the mothers are a little annoyed by that. Maybe they'll have to have an extra nurse-in here and make sure to disperse to the other sections.

I dunno. I've done it while waiting for people (I really don't care for shopping). and I know some women for whom such an action would be totally normal for their personality. As long as you're not in anyone's way, big deal.

I don't have a problem with breast feeding in public however I do think it should be done in a more private area. There are a few stores around here that have a special lounge type area for breast feeding mothers, it's more tucked away, private and comfortable for them and for the rest of the public.

 

Personally, to see someone just sitting in public breast feeding makes me uncomfortable. We all have rights when we're shopping, eating out, traveling, etc and being comfortable is one of those. I am understanding if there is nowhere else for them to go, but when there are other places and they chose not to use them I do get a bit upset. 

 

For me, it's similar to going into a nice restaurant and being seated next to/near someone with a baby. I always ask to be seated further away and if that can't be done, I leave. I do not have kids, I cannot stand babies/kids crying for extended periods of time, and it's not something that I feel I should have to deal with when I'm paying a hefty price for a nice meal out. If it's a family restaurant, that's a different story.

I am fairly sure viewing comfort is not a covered right.  Otherwise, I would insist that fat people not be allowed on beaches, particularly ugly people would have to wear burkas, and bumper stickers advocating Obama 2012 would be banned since they make me uncomfortable to look at.   

 

Don't you fear that you might do something that makes someone else mildly uncomfortable that you wouldn't want to see banned?  

 

I'll straight up admit when I went to Six Flags Houston when they had the gay event (about 95% of everyone there that day for a big celebration) I was grossed out by guys squeezing each others booties, big 6'4" guys wearing small superman shirts and short jean shorts, and other head shuddering PDA but I mostly just laughed it off like watching someone eat worms, and I survived just fine and they had their quasi-parade and everyone coexisted happily without any laws limiting freedoms.    Now if I were personally sexually harassed, then that is a whole other matter, but just seeing something... meh, just don't stare.    

 

After all, we're supposed to be all about tolerance these days.   Tolerance just means you have to put up with it, not like it.  

I don't think anyone has a right not to be "uncomfortable", particularly when it's your own hangups. I'm sure some older men feel uncomfortable seeing women wear pants. Well, tough beans, I'm not going to wear a skirt because some geezer is "uncomfortable". Probably a lot of Muslim men are uncomfortable seeing women wearing anything but a burka. But that doesn't mean they get to insist that everybody wear one. I KNOW a lot of people are uncomfortable seeing same-sex couples even walking together, much less touching each other in any way. But I hardly think that anybody gets to tell them to not go out in public together or not hold hands. My grandma is extremely uncomfortable around mentally handicapped people. But she doesn't get to ask them to stay home (although she'd sure like to!). Et cetera. "Uncomfortable" is so subjective.

Personally I have no problem with women breastfeeding in public but I'd prefer if they were discreet about it, and not purposefully obtrusive.
 

People (mostly teenagers/preteens) would sit on the floor and read in the manga aisle of the Borders around here all the time... No one ever complained, if someone needed to get through the aisle they just walked around them.

I don't have a problem with it...

 

I mean- Do I like seeing it? Heck NO!! I think it's disgusting seeing the baby's mouth on a nipple, and if I had a baby I could never do it...

 

But..just because a woman is doing it in public does not mean that I have to watch, all I have to do is make sure I look the other way.... so no big deal at all! I mean sure maybe by accident I might see more than I intended to, but it's whatever- not the first time I've seen that so I can quickly block it out of my mind and move on...

 

Sounds like nobody here has an issue with a mom discretely feeding her baby where and when the baby's hungry.  Good thing since the alternative is a miserable crying baby. 

 

Friendly protests like the "nurse-in" help move the pendulum when it's stuck to one side (intolerance). The pendulum will swing to the other side before settling in somewhere in the middle. Babies have to be fed when they are hungry, period. You can't reason with them to wait. 

 

Certain body parts aren't always sexual - when they are feeding the young, they are called "breasts" and are serving their function. 

 

Agreed, and if you think that "nomnom" is a sexual term, you're ever so slightly out of touch with today's internet culture, lol!   Nomnom is e-slang for something babies or small cute furry animals eat. 

 

I have no issue with a woman doing what is perfectly natural, feeding her child. As long as she covers up and doesn't flaunt it. 

 

I do have a problem with narrow minded people who think people of a certain size should not be allowed on a beach. I have a problem with anyone who makes out in public. I don't need to see people slobbering all over each other. That being said, I think almost everyone here is guilty of doing that, especially during our teenage years.

 

 

 

 

Since everyone else can eat in public why not babies? We don't ask grandma to go eat in the bathroom so we don't have to watch. 

 

Until you start eating every lunch in the public restroom you don't have a leg to stand on. 

As many people around the world have pointed out, the U.S. seems to have a real problem with breasts.  More than one British comedian (Terry Thomas comes to mind) have poked fun at us and our fascination with "buzzums."  Maybe the tide is turning?

I am for breastfeeding. If your infant is hungry feed it.

omg people get over it!!!! its a BOOB not a vagina or penis, and when you are using it as a feeding tool, there should be no issues with it. do you want a screaming baby in your face because its hungary and mom can't or won't feed him/her because it might offend other people, um no do you deny people who chew with their mouth open not to eat in a public place? no you don't, it may be offensive to YOU but you can look the other way am i not correct?

They can, via bottles.   If women want to be able to show their breasts in public, by all means, but then don't stop a man at the door without a shirt and tell him he's vile and has to cover up at the same venue, that's all.   Create one standard and enforce it, preferably leaning towards freedom of choice over the sensibilities of a few oversensitive people.   And I don't mind fancy restaurants saying that hey we have a formal dress code, but then likewise just make it universal so if a man can't come in shirtless than a woman shouldn't be breastfeeding at the table either.   Just be consistent, which is something that is rarely seen these days.  

There IS a single standard.  Any man that feeds his child by nursing is quite welcome to do so as well.  

 

 

Oh, how silly of me, of course men can just concentrate harder and start lactating.   That is as much a universal clothing requirement as Sharia Law that makes women cover themselves in Burkas while men have climate appropriate practical clothing.   In 2011, sometimes we like to pretend that we advocate gender equality, or we could just create a rule that says that anyone that can grow a minimum 2" beard length can go to college... a very universal rule, women just need to concentrate on growing their beards longer.