Has your day ever been ruined by boobs? It happens. You're minding your own business at a cafe when, all of a sudden, some woman whips out her breasts for all the world to see. Oh noes! The body part we're all obsessed with and can't get enough of -- and she's blocking our view of it with that baby's head. Welcome to the breastfeeding in public debate. To a lot of moms, there's something absurd about people's overreaction to the sight of a nursing mother, as we see in this clever music video by Sparrow Folk, "Ruin Your Day."
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Here's the thing people forget when women breastfeed their babies in public: THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU. I think a lot of the debate reveals how narcissistic and self-centered people can be. A mother is feeding her baby. What the hell does that have to do with anyone else in the room?
When a woman breastfeeds a baby in a public space, she is prioritizing the needs of her baby first and foremost. Everyone else has to take lower priority in her mind. Is that what bothers people the most? Why do people feel like their delicate sensibilities should take higher priority than a baby's feeding and hygiene?
For that matter, I still do not understand why people are so unhappy to see tits. I thought we all loved tits. Aren't people spending hours online and on Snapchat trying to see more tits? Why are you even complaining? Like I said, none of these mothers are doing this for anyone's benefit but their babies', but if you happen to be in the same room, you really should just relax and appreciate. (Did I just encourage creepy leering at breastfeeding moms? Derr, that's not quite what I mean ...)
In general I find it exasperating when people bitch about parents inconveniencing the public, as if THE PUBLIC did not also consist of children. Why do we expect people who are already engaged in the act of caring for small human beings to go beyond that and care about the well-being of the adults, too? I don't think we hold non-parents up to the same high expectations. But I digress.
The point is, people need to stop thinking breastfeeding in public is about them. No one is trying to be rude to you, or exhibitionist, or any of that. We're all just eating here. Go back to your paper and coffee. No one ever died from the sight of breasts. You'll be fine.
Do you think it's narcissistic to feel offended at the sight of public breastfeeding?
Image via Sparrow Folk/Vimeo