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Woman said she was asked to cover up while breastfeeding her baby at Claridges.

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I have nothing against breastfeeding mothers but tbh if she's in a restaurant, she could've just gone to the bathroom and done it there

Reply 21

Snagprophet

Original post by Sulpha

Taking a dump is arguably more natural than breast feeding as well.

Well yeah, considering most of the world is lactose intolerant.

Reply 22

Morrisseya

I'm a feminist but I'd feel awks seeing another woman breastfeeding in public.

Also, the "toilets" at Claridge's are more of a dressing room AFAIK, with lovely sofas and everything. Even if they had asked her to go there, which they did not, they are not exactly a Mcdonalds cubicle.

Reply 23

dontbetheprey

Original post by sadly

I am seriously disgusted by this, people tend to forget they were once babies and that they were once breastfed!

-Why is it that a man or woman can eat in public but when a baby does it's shameless?
-And why is it that men are allowed to bear their chests in the public but when it's a woman she is to cover herself up and have some "shame"?

Sexism is alive and well

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

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Reply 24

joey11223

Don't see the issue with being asked to be discrete tbh, this thread itself shows both men and woman can find it uncomfortable. It takes very little effort to put a small blanket over the area, as another member said their mum managed so people didn't realise what was going on.

I mean there are plenty of natural things which people do not do obviously, guys...generally..do not stand and scratch their balls if they have an itch, but it would be natural to do so.

Reply 25

username1384880

Nothing against breastfeeding in public, to be honest but I wouldn't want their breasts in plain sight. I think it would be acceptable if a mother puts a scarf/blanket on top if she is going to breastfeed. This way people will know she is breastfeeding but they won't see any of her private parts.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 26

anosmianAcrimony

Original post by Sulpha

Taking a dump isn't about flaunting your arse yet people don't do that in public.

It's nothing to do with sexism.

People don't take a dump in public because that reveals quite a bit more of a person's anatomy than breastfeeding and because it would be unhygienic in any case. Your counterexample is garbage.

Reply 27

anosmianAcrimony

Original post by sadly

I am seriously disgusted by this, people tend to forget they were once babies and that they were once breastfed!

An xkcd comic for every occasion.

dignified.png39.0KB

Reply 28

ForgetMe

Okay then if she has to cover up, people eating with open mouth should also cover up, people that yawn without covering their mouth should also cover up, no man should be allowed in hot summer to walk shirtless either... If any of these are allowed in public, why should breastfeeding not be.. I find people doing these things much more disgusting than someone breastfeeding a baby.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 29

A Mysterious Lord

Since the 2010 Equality Act women are doing this 'because they can' then going screaming to the media when asked to cover up/move somewhere else.

Sure, there's nothing stopping women from breastfeeding in public, but there also exists something called 'common decency', so please stop whipping it out on trains and in cafes.

Reply 30

lilymoran

Original post by R Dragon

Who cares, just cover up or feed your baby at another time

Hmm, babies just sometimes have to be fed right now. Breasts get very painful if you don't feed at the right time or if the baby just wasn't too hungry last time you tried, milk won't just go away. Babies are also breast fed to comfort them etc.

Surely if it's OK to have bare breasts on the front pages or page 3 of newspapers for all to see, it's OK to have breasts used for feeding a baby in public. Heavens if a baby is feeding you can't see the nipple and the area round it : it's inside the baby's mouth.

No more of the breast is seen than with a low decollete. Babies and their mothers are some of the most important elements in society and we should encourage breast feeding with all the concomitant benefits for the baby.

We have the most strange attitude to breasts in this country. How come they have become disgusting when used for their prime purpose? Victorian puritanism gone crazy.

Reply 31

Slumpy

Original post by sadly

Whether it's discrete or not, breastfeeding is breastfeeding. A mother doesn't breastfeed to flaunt her breasts? Breastfeeding is only ever for the benefit of a baby. To feed the baby.

Why does it make people uncomfortable? They can look elsewhere, nobody is stopping them from doing so. Does nature disturb them?

Anyways my previous point above about showing chests is a blatant example of sexism, something that is seeping through society

I rather doubt that men are allowed shirtless in claridges, so I think your argument rather falls to the ground under it's own weight.

For the record:
- couldn't give a toss if people breastfeed in public.
- sexism isn't seeping through society, society had it practically built in through all of history. We're arguably less sexist than ever.

Reply 32

username402722

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30327780

Reasons not to discourage breastfeeding. Interesting reading.

Reply 33

username402722

I wonder what Nigel Farage would suggest to a mother at the Roundhouse, Camden?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30342953

Reply 34

Rum Ham

I am all for women breast feeding their babies. It seems to be the best for the baby. Tbh, I don't like seeing women breast feed in public, especially if there is a toilet nearby but I would never tell them to stop it or look down at them for it. Its like someone peeing in public, yeah peeing is a perfectly natural thing to do but it doesn't mean we want to see you do it.

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Reply 35

Zarek

I think since tits are exploited in all sorts of unseemly ways and for dubious purposes then I am quite happy that it has been legitimised to breast feed in public. I'm not too sure about going to the media at the drop of hat when old fashioned attitudes are encountered. Why not sort it out with the establishment first. Interesting that in these posts the jury is out, for both males and females, on the topic, yet no sensible politician would now contemplate questioning the right of a lactating mother to whip them out.

Reply 36

masterridley

Original post by Sulpha

Nonsense.

You could easily cover your bits whilst taking a dump and by now a method could have easily been developed to tackle hygiene.

The reason neither has happened is because the act is still unsightly. Walk 5 minutes and find somewhere to do it in private.

If you're not a troll I weep for your intelligence (or lack thereof).

Please do share with us, what would that contraption look like? Would it be based on paper or water? How would the waste products be disposed of? If they were chemically or otherwise eliminated, then would we have to carry the device around? Sounds a bit uncomfortable to me mate!

Reply 37

#Ridwan

The 2010 Equality Act is an abomination and the ridiculous breastfeeding clause is proof of this.

Feminists say it's "natural". Well so is defecating, but I don't see a campaign for that to be allowed in public.

My opinion on this, in all seriousness, is that women should have the right to breastfeed in public but that private property rights trump this, so a restaurant should be allowed to tell a woman to stop breastfeeding if they so wish.

Reply 38

freyarobb1

I don't get why people are likening breast feeding to going to the bathroom in public. Peeing and taking a **** are things you do to expel things you don't need in your body out, things that are dirty, poo smells for a reason!!! Breast feeding is the same as you eating. You don't have a problem with someone walking around with a sandwich, which is pretty much what milk is to a baby. Why is telling a women to do to a toilet ok?! It's a room full of bacteria. That's not somewhere you'd like to eat so why make a baby eat there. But tbh jn all fairness, there are discrete ways of doing it, and although i have absolutely no problem with a women walking around with thier breasts out (even know the nipple is covered which may I say ahould be more acceptable then Rihanna wearing a see through dress with nipples out) but I feel like we should try and be respectful of others and cover with a blanket or scalf, but sometimes you have to feed your baby then and there and there's no time to sort all that out

Reply 39

freyarobb1

Original post by Sulpha

Noone is saying they have to go to a toilet, just do it in a ****ing corner. Corners are everywhere, it's not difficult. I certainly don't want publicly breastfeeding to be illegal but I don't want to see it either.

If you can't do it in a corner then feed your baby formula milk.

WHY WOULD YOU FEED YOUR BABY FORMULA IF YOU HAVE FREE MILK IN YOUR BREASTS WHICH IS A WHOLE LOT BETTER FOR THE BABY?? and actually lots of people said do it in a bathroom! I do think people should be discrete out of respect but if they don't have time to get everything out because thier baby is crying its head of and people are giving you dirty looks for not shutting it up, we shouldn't be angry for them just whipping out thier breast to feed thier baby. Mothers are already made to feel like they are doing a bad job, so why make them feel even worse about thier parenting styles?