Thursday, August 15, 2013

The Great American Double Standard

Today is a bit of a ranting-post type of day. 

Today is my daughter's 4 month birthday. It is also, apparently the 2nd annual Public Display of Breastfeeding (PDB) Day! According to The Bump the goal is To empower moms and show the world that if a mom chooses to breastfeed, it’s her right to feed her baby whenever and wherever she needs to. The more people who see moms nursing in public, the less of a big deal it’ll be.”


The fact that there is a need for such an event drives home to me the great double standard in America. People don't single out and berate women in clothing that their boobs practically pop out of, but heaven forbid if a woman sits discreetly in a corner of a department store to feed her hungry, cranky infant.

It's a double standard that in public places things like this don't raise an eyebrow. 









But this creates a firestorm of outrage from supporters & detractors of breastfeeding. 
Even supporters of breastfeeding are divided into the “cover” and “not to cover” camps on what is “appropriate” when breastfeeding in public. It's all ridiculous. There should be absolutely no controversy at all about a woman choosing to feed her child the way nature intended in whatever fashion works best for her and her child.






I choose to cover in public because A) my daughter is like me, and is easily distracted by new & shiny things and the cover minimizes distractions & B) I'm not personally comfortable with whipping out the girls in front of everyone and their brother every time my baby is hungry so the cover helps me maintain a personal sense of modesty. Other mothers choose not to cover because their babies will not tolerate a cover.

I think the world would be a much better place if overly photoshopped & enhanced advertising like this caused outrage.












It would be a much better world if nobody batted an eyelash and continued on their day if they happened to see this.

















If a mother is being a good mother, no matter how she chooses to feed her child, the public should butt out and leave her to be a good mother!

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