This is spot on. There is nothing wrong with breastfeeding in public or otherwise. It’s just a baby eating and there’s nothing dirty about it. But the thing that advocates don’t really consider is that regardless of how natural or innocent it is, it can still make other people uncomfortable. For example, when I see someone take out their breast I am embarrassed that I might be attracted to the woman or want to look at her body. I know she isn’t doing it to be salacious or to tempt me or anything like that, but I’M EMBARRASSED – my feelings, which I’m allowed to have – BECAUSE I DESIRE HER BREASTS AND HAVE TO FORCE MYSELF NOT TO LOOK. Just as there’s nothing wrong with her feeding her baby, there’s nothing wrong with me being attracted to naked breasts and wanting to look, but I’m ashamed because I know I’m not supposed to in this context. Saying that men are being perverts or anything like that is not helping. I know I’m not supposed to look or at least I’m not supposed to desire or be attracted to her breasts in this context, but it’s NATURAL to have these feelings, just as natural as it is for the baby to be hungry. I don’t cry and throw a tantrum when my desires are aroused (like a baby does when hungry), but just because I can suppress them and be civil doesn’t mean they aren’t there or that they are “bad” or “perverted”.
The point is that I have every right to be a little uncomfortable about a woman taking her breast out in public. But (and this is why I’m a public breastfeeding advocate) I am also a mature adult and should be able to get over it so that the baby can eat. Now here’s the rub: Not everyone in public is a mature adult. There are kids and immature idiots and everything in between and they are uncomfortable and staring or uncomfortable and glaring or aroused and leering. And even though you should have the right to breastfeed in public if you need to, they should have the right to feel how they want about it, too. Consider the couple on the park bench from this picture. You probably have pretty strong feelings about walking in the park with your kids and seeing a couple people making passionate love and trying to conceive, correct? You have every right to feel strongly one way or the other about it. Maybe it doesn’t bother you because you think it’s natural or maybe you think that although it’s natural, not everyone should be subjected to it in public because not everyone is mature enough to handle it. That’s the nature of the discussion. It’s not a discussion about whether or not breastfeeding is dirty or necessary or natural, it’s a discussion about whether or not everyone in public should be subjected to it because you can’t / won’t cover up or find a private spot and there is some merit to that discussion. In other words, I’m on your side, but both sides are right. People should stop giving you a hard time, but you should also stop barking at other people to grow up or get over it and realize that their feelings are just as natural and valid as yours.
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