I don't get this. Why is asking for a little discretion while proferring the necessary tool a rights violation? Nobody asked her to not breastfeed. While I'm all for baring mammaries, I think this was blown way out of proportion from the get-go.

Clearly, this isn't the main point nor the central concern of the story...but I wouldn't put an airline blanket on my lap, but less around my child's face for any reason.

Our culture has such an incredible fear of anything remotely sexual. Period.

The real lesson here for breast-feeding mamas: Don't whip it out until the plane has actually taken off. What are they going to do to you then?

Why not use the proffered blanket? It sounds like this woman was more interested in asserting her rights than feeding her child.

Yes, not germane to the story, but ... AIRLINE BLANKETS ARE GROSS. I once saw someone change her toddler's diaper on one. Anyway, she could have brought her own blanket for the same purpose. (Yes, I'm ignoring the question of whether she should have had to cover up or not -- she and her husband were obviously not in a rush to get anywhere since she refused to "shield" her and her nursing baby once the flight attendant made it clear that it was a deal-breaker.)

on everyone's part - the airline for being so tight-a**ed and the woman for refusing the blanket.

But of course what really takes the cake for airline insanity is British Airways that has a company policy of not allowing a man to sit next to a child who is not his. But why would Broadsheet notice a thing like that? All it does is discriminate against men and who would care about that? Certainly not a publication that's all for gender equality.

Freedom Airlines? Hah!!! USAirways might want to re-think their bid to buy Delta (the official airline of Walt Disney World-- that explains a lot!).

A tidbit from wikipedia:

In 2000, Delta adopted the slogan: "Fly___", in which the blank was filled in according to the context of the slogan's usage. For example, on the airline's cocktail napkins, the slogan was "Fly refreshed."

How about... "Fly Hungry!"

With two near-bankrupt airlines trying to merge, which could result in higher consumer air fares... you'd think they'd want to keep their current passengers happy, rather than eject them because one of them is-- discreetly-- feeding a new passenger. Of course, the airlines aren't really interested in feeding any of their passengers, including babies.

Boob-hating? How about baby-hating?

Otherwise, all of this ridiculous focus on lactating boobs in public would just evaporate, given our public concern for babies' welfare. But it hasn't, has it?

The sad truth is that there is nothing sexual about breast feeding a baby. Has it occured to these people that feeding babies are the sole reason breasts exist? That we made sex objects out of the things (of which I'm as guilty as any male) is purely a cultural manifastation.

Think about it. If some hot-bodied blond boarded the plain in some deep cleavaged semi-see through top - something clearly sexually provocative would she be asked to cover up? Never in my experience. And since I fly in and out of LA, I can think of numorous examples.

But to let a woman feed her baby (nipple obscured for obvious reasons) with out possibly overheating herself and baby with a blanket of unkown history! God forbid!

This is sick. I hope this story has legs and Delta gets really embarrased and changes their policy.

I have yet to figure out who was getting too much of an eyeful of the nursing mom. And everything I have read previously about airline blankets and pillows would definitely keep those germ rags away from my infant.

Oddly enough, I wonder what would have happened if she had draped herself and her baby with Raed Jarrar's "World Can't Wait" T-shirt?

http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/09/08/askthepilot200/index.html

That I think that asking to hold a blanket up around your boob is a perfectly reasonable request?

Living in San Francisco, you see aggressive breast-feeders everywhere. It's your liberated, natural right to whip out the ole mammary gland wherever you are. But your personal space is already being violated somewhat by being on a plane. Your NAKED BOOB is SIX INCHES from the person next to you!

This happened to my boyfriend and I at a crowded Mission restaurant one night. The seats were bench-style, and a woman whose hip directly abutted his, unbuttoned her shirt, exposed her breast, and just went at it. Yeah, it's natural. So is pooping in a bush, a la Borat. Please have some discretion sometimes.

Yeah, I agree with that. People really do have strange notions of what their "rights" are. Overall though, the whole thing seems to have been blown out of proportion by both sides.

Not mentioned yet is the age of the child - 22 months. For some that's a toddler, not a baby. Was the "discrimination" with respect to social attitudes about the "appropriate" age to wean a child from breast milk? I raise the issue b/c I recall my sister receiving much disapproval from others in public when her child of simkilar age was brestfeeding. Whether or not you agree/disagree with another person's choice in this matter, it certainly shouldn't be grounds to remove you from a plane!

I'm sorry, I don't get why asking someone not to expose her breast in public is wrong. Someone please clarify for me why that's such an egregious request.

I'm all for breastfeeding but I don't see why the woman couldn't just cover up. Some people are uncomfortable with breastfeeding. I know it was a little weird for my dad to have my sister-in-law breast-feed my nephew openly. I think it was a little weird for him to see my sister-in-laws breasts, plus he's of a generation when women just didn't breastfeed in public. Honestly it was a little weird for me at first because the new moms I'd been around before had always breastfed in private. I got used to it, and I never would have asked my sister-in-law to cover up, but some of us have not been around breastfeeding moms on a regular basis. It takes some getting used to. You try not to look straight at the boob, but there it is, being sucked on, something you're not used to seeing as you have a normal conversations or drink a cup of coffee. And you know it's normal so you're trying not to stare, but it's still just a little weird. So you're extra-self-conscious because you're making such an effort not to stare.

Try to think about it from the perspective of someone who's never seen a breast-feeding child, or from an older man who feels just a little awkward seeing a strange woman's breasts. Like it or not, some people are a little uncomfortable with a woman's bare breast being exposed publicly, regardless of its purpose. Breasts are sexualized throughout our culture, from wonderbra ads to Girls Gone Wild ads. On one hand, we're taught that boobs are sexual and sexy, and on the other that they're natural and nourishing. And I'm a woman. I can only imagine how confusing this is for men, whether they're hormonally charged teenagers or older more conserative men.

I think my point is, that there are shades of gray. Yes, the mother has a right to breastfeed. Sure it sucks that they asked her to cover up. It's not right that they booted her from the plane. But it's also understandable if someone on the flight was a little uncomfortable with the breastfeeding and I don't think it's entirely unreasonable for the mom to just cover up. Nobody's saying she can't breastfeed.

Also an airplane is a small cramped space. I don't talk as loudly as I would in a restaurant or bar, I don't recline my seat back as far as I would if I were alone and I can't imagine I'd breastfeed my hypothetical child without something covering my boob. We all relish our personal space a bit more when we don't have as much of it. I think it's reasonable to ask airline passengers to be a bit more sensitive to others comfort levels than they normally would be.