tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post751049990840688468..comments2023-03-20T05:39:00.658-07:00Comments on Streaming Consciousness : Breastfeeding in public is a feminist issue!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15321228798277017394noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-72026726529036715272017-07-04T10:04:04.387-07:002017-07-04T10:04:04.387-07:00Get over yourselves. Peeing out of our vaginas is ...Get over yourselves. Peeing out of our vaginas is natural and a normal body function of a woman and non-sexual but do we squat wherever we feel like it or find an appropriate place? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-8061905301391028602013-02-13T13:27:01.242-08:002013-02-13T13:27:01.242-08:00Thanks for your brilliant post, of course I agree ...Thanks for your brilliant post, of course I agree that breastfeeding is a feminist issue. <br /><br />Birth, becoming a mother, breastfeeding, these are all core feminist issues. Which is why I'm studying to become a midwife. The fact that women aren't always treated with respect as labouring women, as mothers, and as mothers who feed their children still amazes me. Women can do the most amazing thing, bring forth new life, it demands respect and awe. I'm not interested in those women who feel that they can define feminism as excluding mothers. <br /><br />Women have spent so much time being excluded in so many other places, we need to reclaim feminism for ourselves. As amazing, strong mothers with the right to make our own choices, around where and how we give birth, and how we feed our babies, and how we raise our children. <br /><br />How can such important choices not be at the top of the feminist agenda?<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-76965940193639772442013-02-13T13:03:44.640-08:002013-02-13T13:03:44.640-08:00Angela, I love that quote! :-)Angela, I love that quote! :-)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15321228798277017394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-60299075743260428972013-02-13T13:02:57.367-08:002013-02-13T13:02:57.367-08:00Thank you for sharing your post with me. I haven&#...Thank you for sharing your post with me. I haven't read it yet, but fully intend to, especially after reading your comment. I'm very interested in reading other feminist thoughts on the subject of breastfeeding and advocacy! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15321228798277017394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-14865322569155735392013-02-13T13:01:35.385-08:002013-02-13T13:01:35.385-08:00Thank you very much for reading and commenting Lau...Thank you very much for reading and commenting Lauren. I will definitely read your account you posted when I get a chance! Thanks for sharing it!!!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15321228798277017394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-84739849212421344012013-02-13T12:49:36.893-08:002013-02-13T12:49:36.893-08:00Thank you so much for your reply Vicki.Thank you so much for your reply Vicki.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15321228798277017394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-7595061960797106322013-02-13T12:48:57.487-08:002013-02-13T12:48:57.487-08:00Thank you for reading the post and for your great ...Thank you for reading the post and for your great reply. You make some points that I wish I'd made when I wrote this. Especially about guilt and actions reflecting that. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15321228798277017394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-88773026437508871732013-02-13T11:10:47.603-08:002013-02-13T11:10:47.603-08:00When people discriminate against nursing in public...When people discriminate against nursing in public, they are really discriminating against women who are breastfeeding in public. They are attempting to restrict a woman’s access to places based on an activity she is undertaking that is inherently female. The oversexualization of woman’s bodies, specifically their breasts, has created a great deal of hostility towards the act of breastfeeding itself. When we are not free to use our breasts in public, as they were meant to be as designed by nature, we are not free to be women. This is not to say that the definition of womanhood hinges solely on breastfeeding or childbearing, but it is within the scope of womanhood alone that we give birth and breastfeed. If we are not free to label our bodies, ourselves as we need or wish, who is free to do so? At the moment it seems society at large is answering for our own bodies. That is extremely anti-feminist. (more at my own post on nursing in public and feminism: http://www.nursinginpublic.com/breastfeeding-advocacy/why-nursing-in-public-is-a-womens-rights-issue/)@Wolf_Mommyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12938941418298761797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-59911689883204728252013-02-13T06:23:25.136-08:002013-02-13T06:23:25.136-08:00Fantastic post! So well-worded and exactly how I f...Fantastic post! So well-worded and exactly how I feel.<br /><br />I have successfully breastfed my three kids and just finished weaning my 18-month-old. But I had a horrible experience with public breastfeeding my second (who was only 5 days old at the time) at The Building Museum in Washington, DC. I posted here:<br /><br />http://www.crumbbums.com/?p=2353<br /><br />Thanks for saying what so many of us feel!Lauren Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07358496490976869347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-84044405153026588352013-02-13T05:00:41.183-08:002013-02-13T05:00:41.183-08:00I quote Rebecca West from 1913 "I myself have...I quote Rebecca West from 1913 "I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiment that differentiates me from a doormat". Some things have changed, many have not. As a woman who has described herself as a feminist for all of my 50 years, even when it was a dirty word, it is difficult to see this internal debate continuing. For me, feminism is about freedom to choose. Our jobs, our partners, the number of our children. The one constant was that we would be equal in every way with every other human, how we are treated, what we are paid, access to health care, support for our children and empowered to make the choices that are right for us without reference to anyone else. If you choose to be a mother, be the best mother you can, and breast is certainly best! Nature did not provide breasts to make your shirt look good, to create cleavage, or to give our partners something to play with. Please know that the narrow minded and judgmental are with us always, if common sense were common or could be mandated, they might be changed but don't hold your breath. Angela in Canadahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06455891638100230127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-31339262049052896202013-02-12T20:40:09.060-08:002013-02-12T20:40:09.060-08:00Power to you and your baby! Makes my heart sing to...Power to you and your baby! Makes my heart sing to see you proudly breastfeeding! Big love!Vicki Chanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10031718128722544313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-44393148619955769022013-02-12T20:38:25.063-08:002013-02-12T20:38:25.063-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Vicki Chanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10031718128722544313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218486274563763502.post-14457199373390929572013-02-12T19:35:32.979-08:002013-02-12T19:35:32.979-08:00Unfortunately there are soooo many things behind t...Unfortunately there are soooo many things behind these comments that have NOTHING to do with feeding your child the way both of you were created to. Okay--speaking to you as a "breeder" means one of our lesbian sisters has her own issues of value and feeling that you are lording your heterosexual (? cause heteros are not the only ones who have babies)"superiority" over her. It is ignorant and horribly limiting to a feminist cause to assume that only "no-breeders" can be fiery feminists. That makes her a bigot in her own right. The whole wave of "breast is best" is true and has been true since antiquity, however there seems to always be the need to judge others who do not use a certain method in any vein. I would that all the sisters I know breastfeed, but it isn't for everyone and we live in a society of choice. So it is there choice and I'm sorry that there is such a burden of guilt on some women that makes them feel that a breastfeeding woman is looking down her nose as a superior being for doing what comes naturally. Mamas, women in general, are so hard on ourselves that we hold court in our own heads against ourselves based on whatever values/actions we feel we should be espousing. Both of those women need to go check themselves and see why they are turning their own insecurity and self-doubt outward on you. I'm a proud (and grateful) breastfeeding mama of two (almost 3) babies. So when I see this picture all I see is a healthy mama and baby who are content providing and receiving love and nourishment. Where is the vulgarity in that?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08054007781877837366noreply@blogger.com