by Jeanine Kelly

Created on: September 22, 2007   Last Updated: September 24, 2007

I saw a story on the news today that caught my attention, not only because I am a woman, but also because I am about to become a mother. A woman was at an outdoor, public mall when her son got hungry. She asked if she could go into one of the store's dressing rooms to breastfeed her son, and they told her no. She then took her son outside, sat on a bench, and commenced feeding him, in front of God and everyone. THEN, she got offended when a security guard asked her to either go into the restroom or leave.

While on the news, she demonstrated how she had been feeding her child. She simply lifted her shirt and bra, and he latched on. She didn't try to cover up or even be tasteful about it, and she's offended that people complained about it? I'm sorry, but as someone who frequents that very mall, and a soon-to-be mother, I feel that they were completely in their rights as a business to ask her to go somewhere else. While, in the state of Texas, it is legal for a woman to breastfeed anywhere she is permitted to be, I know for a fact that is not something I want to see.
As a soon-to-be mother, I have a few comments for women who think this behavior is acceptable. Number one, there's a reason they invented the breast pump. $35 at Wal-Mart, ladies.
Number two, just because it's a natural thing doesn't give us the right to do it in a public places where it would obviously make people uncomfortable. Burping and farting are natural, yet socially considered rude. Peeing is natural, but are you going to pop a squat in the middle of the food court just to avoid walking the few hundred feet to the bathroom? For that matter, it's natural for men's testicles to itch, yet we constantly complain about men walking around scratching themselves.
Number three. No matter how hot you think you are, flopping your boob out in the middle of the mall to feed a screaming baby is NOT attractive, no matter who you are. It makes people uncomfortable, and when you're in a public place, you have to take PUBLIC opinion into consideration.
Here are a couple of suggestions. If you are going out, either pump yourself and bring it along in a thermal diaper bag (yes they sell for pretty cheap), or bring a couple of bottles with formula in them so that all you have to do is add water. If that doesn't work for you, go sit in your car or in the bathroom. Those are the only two places people can't complain about you doing it. There are ways to avoid being harassed and embarrassed about such a thing.
Just remember, this is not a time when you need to flaunt what you got. No one wants to see it.

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