171 replies to this topic

[Newlywednotnearlydead]

Seems pretty crazy to me. I'm certainly not offended by someone breastfeeding, although it can be a little awkward to talk to someone who whips their boob out to feed their child. That's just one of those cultural hangups though, I would never think to tell someone to stop breastfeeding.

And judging by the people I see ducking into Monty's and the various downtown adult outlets, there's plenty of men who don't find the sight of a bare breast quite offensive...

[KublaKhan]

Seems pretty crazy to me. I'm certainly not offended by someone breastfeeding, although it can be a little awkward to talk to someone who whips their boob out to feed their child. That's just one of those cultural hangups though, I would never think to tell someone to stop breastfeeding.

And judging by the people I see ducking into Monty's and the various downtown adult outlets, there's plenty of men who don't find the sight of a bare breast quite offensive...

Awkward. Hm...frankly, I feel a little awkward when I glance over at the guy sitting in the car next to me at the lights and he's got his finger jammed in his nose. Or when someone laughs uncontrollably at inappropriate jokes, or when John McCain tries to get jiggy wit da kidz, or when some skateboarding punk does a lip skid across the pavement after the bone in his shin erupts through his flesh, or when I see a bunch of cops trying to free a lamp-post from an offending street beggar, or when my dad whistles at a hot chick, or when my mom talks about her youthful desires, or when some jerk from grade 5 tracks me down on Facebook, or when some uptight guy/Victorian-era moralist on a plane starts making hysterical jabbering noise when the woman sitting next to him attempts to feed her infant.

But when a woman 'whips their boob out' to nurse, not really.

[martini]

I think they got their point across.
Don't mess with the mamas!
http://www.canada.co...fb-05ccd2e0a6e5

Breastfeeding moms crowd Vancouver clothing store in protest

Kelly Sinoski
Vancouver Sun

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Camela Cowan, with her baby, Sequoia, 4 months, takes part in a breastfeeding protest with other mothers at the H&M clothing store in downtown Vancouver. Ian Smith/Vancouver Sun


VANCOUVER -- Scores of breastfeeding mothers crowded into downtown Vancouver's H&M clothing store Thursday afternoon to protest the way another woman was treated when she tried to feed her baby in public.

At least 60 women sat cross-legged on the floor, milled about the store feeding their babies or spilled out into Pacific Centre mall in support of Manuela Valle, who was told by store staff on Tuesday to go into the changeroom to feed her two-month-old daughter Ramona.

Others stood outside the storefront on Granville Street, carrying signs that read: "Get a room? Human rights mockery" and "Babies for Breastfeeding."

"This is normal; it's not shameful. It is everyone's need to to have food and be nourished and nurtured," mom Veronika Pollanska told the crowd as she fed her five-month-old son. "This is for all businesses including airlines, clothing stores, pools and restaurants."

Siobhan Sestak, of Delta, said she came out to show her support because so many women are often treated the same way as Valle. Sestak said she was feeding her four-month-old son Declan in Liquidation World three weeks ago when she was told it was illegal for her to breastfeed while sitting on the store's furniture.

"She said 'nobody wants to buy furniture when they see you feeding on it so you have leave,'" Sestak said, adding her son was covered by a sheet. "It made me feel bad to be ganged up on like that. It's something you can't help; when you're out and about you have to feed your baby."

Many mothers said it was shocking that companies can put up ads portraying near-naked women yet moms are villified for breast-feeding in public. "You kind of have to wonder what's going on in our culture when a company can put up a billboard with a teenager scantily clad but a mother feeding her baby is offending someone," said Mel Carson, who was feeding her six-month-old son Carson Lee. "I can't wrap my head around that."

Laura Shankland, a spokeswoman for H&M in Toronto, said the store has a policy that allows women to breastfeed freely in public. The incident, she said, has prompted the store to start an education campaign to ensure its staff is aware of the policy and such problems don't arise again.

"We're very sorry for that occurrence and we're investigating it," she said. "We're very sorry that a woman in our store was made to feel unwelcome and uncomfortable."

ksinoski@vancouversun.com
© Vancouver Sun

[LJ]

Yeah, I tell ya, the whole world is going "tits up"

[Ginger Snap]

I haven't had any luck googling this.

So am I to understand that because it's private property they can override legal rights?

Nope. Not true. THey may have a history of not "allowing" it, but they have not recourse to disallow it. It's the law - mothers may breastfeed wherever they choose. It doesnt matter one iota if others feel they are being tasteful or tasteless or whatever.

A mall, a restaurant, a rec centre, a shop... none of them can override human rights.

[Ginger Snap]

I'm by no means saying that mothers with young children need to stay at home, but there are alternatives to public breast feeding. If you know you're going to be out for a bit, pump a bottle full. Feed it some formula. Again, I'm kidless (thank god) and will admit I don't know all the details, but I'm sure there are some ways around this.

Uh, yeah... I think most would have been able to determine you are childless by your previous remarks, in case your qualifier wasnt enough. But, fair enough, you did admit you dont know all the details. So here are some details:

As a mom, and by NO means an activist, I can tell you that breastfeeding is frigging hard... it is hard to learn, hard to coordinate, hard to juggle a baby. And to suggest that a woman go somewhere private in a mall... sometimes the only private areas are the bathroom. Would YOU eat you lunch sitting on a public toilet? If not, why should I be forced to sit on one for up to 30 minutes while my child eats.

It is NOT the discretion of ANY business to refuse a woman a right to breastfeed, any more than it is any businesses right to refuse service based on race, gender, mental capabilities etc. Breastfeeding in public is a human right in Canada. Period. Call it tasteless, whatever... some people can be tasteless about it. But you know what... suck it up. You just have no recourse. It is the law.

[Zimquats]

Ya ya, it's all fine. I really don't care about it too much one way or the other, and certainly don't have feeling to oppose the practice anywhere close to the feeling people have that support it.

What's I'm really, really curious about is if I won the Five bucks, and if so (because I know it's likely) how I'm gonna collect!!

[KublaKhan]

Ya ya, it's all fine. I really don't care about it too much one way or the other, and certainly don't have feeling to oppose the practice anywhere close to the feeling people have that support it.

What's I'm really, really curious about is if I won the Five bucks, and if so (because I know it's likely) how I'm gonna collect!!

No. You can't collect the five buck. You're not even close.

If it helps, I suggest you read some of my other posts in other threads, where I talk briefly on the levels of profanity I expel when confronted by certain situations.

Also, if it helps, keep in mind that I'm Irish, and as such, I am capable of extreme bursts of emotional energy, and I do not (or cannot) suffer fools gladly. It's genetic.

So...allow me to set the scene: KublaKhan is sitting on the red eye to T-Dot on some shithole airline, and there's a mother sitting in the seat across from him, and she's attempting to get her infant to settle down to nurse, and the man sitting directly in front of her complains to the flight attendant that he's slightly mortified/offended that there's an exposed breast in the seat behind him (how he knows this is another story) and could the attendant please ensure that his right to be outraged is fully respected and affirmed, so the attendant leans in close to the now settled infant and mother and says, "Excuse me...but some men are offended by the sight of a woman's bare breast."

How do I react?

[Zimquats]

You go completely [mod edit], then when he's lying there bleeding, out comes the [ouch...mod edit].

At that point, you roll the outraged man onto his stomach and [jesus Zim...mod edit and I think you also broke a few laws typing that].

Now can I have my five bucks?

[KublaKhan]

You go completely [mod edit], then when he's lying there bleeding, out comes the [ouch...mod edit].

At that point, you roll the outraged man onto his stomach and [jesus Zim...mod edit and I think you also broke a few laws typing that].

Now can I have my five bucks?

Well...you had help. I'm billing you for an assistant fee, but I won't include GST. You may claim your prize of $.03 (CAN) upon our first meeting.

[Zimquats]

Sweet...wanna meet at the bay centre, or Silvercity?

[martini]

I think I'm glad I missed something. ^

Yet another retail chain gets pummeled:
http://www.canada.co...63-6f2da3fee7a5

[Holden West]

Not a crime, but some are acting like it was. You might have seen the TC story about the woman told to stop breastfeeding in Wal-Mart. Welcome to 1950. So I did a quick Google search and found that in nearly all the breastfeeding complaints it was a female clerk who confronted the mother--even if the company policy allowed breastfeeding. I can see a crotchety old lady or repressed gas-bag Born Again going apeshit but aren't women under 40 supposed to be enlightened on this non-issue?

[martini]

Not a crime, but some are acting like it was. You might have seen the TC story about the woman told to stop breastfeeding in Wal-Mart. Welcome to 1950. So I did a quick Google search and found that in nearly all the breastfeeding complaints it was a female clerk who confronted the mother--even if the company policy allowed breastfeeding. I can see a crotchety old lady or repressed gas-bag Born Again going apeshit but aren't women under 40 supposed to be enlightened on this non-issue?

Yes it seems an issue that keeps repeating itself.
http://www.vibrantvi...t=breastfeeding

No shortage of ignorance.
But we are talking about Wal-Mart.

[weirdie]

1. The baby won't die if she takes five minutes to walk over to a family restroom or change room to feed it.
2. After hearing recently from mothers how far the milk can squirt when the baby detaches, it's more of a 'bodily fluids' issue than a 'I can see your tit' issue as far as I'm concerned.

It just seems as though this is another situation where a store employee didn't use the correct words and the mother freaked out and cried 'discrimination'.

[martini]

1. The baby won't die if she takes five minutes to walk over to a family restroom or change room to feed it.
2. After hearing recently from mothers how far the milk can squirt when the baby detaches, it's more of a 'bodily fluids' issue than a 'I can see your tit' issue as far as I'm concerned.

It just seems as though this is another situation where a store employee didn't use the correct words and the mother freaked out and cried 'discrimination'.

Maybe a mod can move this discussion back to the breastfeeding thread. Breastfeeding isn't a crime.

May I ask if you'd like to eat your lunch in the loo?
Why on earth should a baby have to be?!

I do agree on a degree that this did morph into global coverage.
The ignorance of an employee has had it's effect.
The mother has a point and is within the law. This kind of ignorance should not still be prevalent in our society.

[gumgum]

^^If you had first or even second hand experience with breastfeeding you would know how ridiculous your suggestion to go to the bathroom is.

[Baro]

If babies have to go to the bathroom to eat I think really gross fat people or noisy eaters should too. Really it's all just about me, everyone else get the **** out you're distracting my meal! Why the hell would I go out to a public restaurant to endure other people? Bah I'm going to have to buy a bigger SUV and set up a dinner table there so i don't have to endure the plebs.

[aastra]

If you had first or even second hand experience with breastfeeding you would know how ridiculous your suggestion to go to the bathroom is.

Some people were never kids.

[weirdie]

^^If you had first or even second hand experience with breastfeeding you would know how ridiculous your suggestion to go to the bathroom is.

I have had second hand experience, and miraculously, the baby didn't turn into a plume of smoke on the way to the car before it was fed.