Letters to the Editor
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Has He Ever Seen a Child being Nursed?
It's my guess that Mr. Maher has never seen a mother nursing a baby. I have. All you can really see is the baby. The baby rather fully covers the "tit" (as he so quaintly states it). I've also seen mothers nursing a baby and everything is covered by a loose-fitting blouse. Yeah, there's no doubt what is going on, but I can't believe that anyone supporting "family values" could possibly object. I expect something more thoughtful from Mr. Maher.
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Typical Bill Maher
Although I'm a big fan of Bill Maher and often agree with his views, he has not made a secret of his distain for babies, children and those who create them. I don't find this segment surprising at all. As a mother and a viewer of his show, I find myself ignoring segments like this while waiting to get to the parts I enjoy. My husband and I joke that if I were to ever meet him, he would like me for my boobs and political views and hate me for being a breeder. His form of comedy has always featured him bringing his personal baggage to the show and exploiting it for humor. He hates religion, breeding and bad eating and likes to talk about all of these. I'll deal with his weird attitudes about breastfeeding to keep laughing at the rest of what he says.
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You missed the point completely
Maher's larger theme -- which went completely uncommented on in this cherry-picking article -- is that a lot of American mothers have an overweening (excuse the expression) sense of entitlement. It's like the world should stop on its axis because they gave birth, which, as Maher -- A COMEDIAN, let's remember -- points out, a dog can do.
Feeling as if you have the right to breastfeed wherever you like is of a piece with the same mentality that gives us people who bring their double-wide strollers into crowded stores on Saturday, park them in the middle of the aisle and browse freely while people struggle to get by them. Or people who bring screaming, unruly kids to a restaurant or theater and let them run amok. And God forbid you should say something. Then you get the self-righteous glares and the charges that you "hate kids" -- never mind that you love kids and have done a damn good job of raising your own. And for those who do "hate kids"? I'm guessing it's overindulgent, smug parents like these that have made them feel that way.
Yes, breastfeeding is natural. So are peeing and pooping. There are bathrooms available for all three of these functions.
Broadsheet needs to stop knee-jerk defending everything women do, no matter how rude, inane, self-indulgent or thoughtless. It lessens the credibility of the whole site, and of women generally,
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Breastfeeding in public ain't fun
I'd much rather deal with male discomfort and disapproval than with male prurient interest. There are so many different and twisted varieties of prurient interest, you don't even know. A creepy ogling dude may be oblivious to the fact that there is a baby latched onto you... or he may actually GET OFF on it.
EWWWWWWW!
I'd rather they be grossed out and disgusted, thank you.
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Do whatever you want
Just don't whine when I do.
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Anonymous 01:44 PM
It's really sad that I have to remind men like you of this fact, but breast are not genitals!!!
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I Keep Wondering What the Deal Is
I'm not sure I get it yet. I don't have kids, but my friends do. When we get a rare chance to spend time together, we go to restaurants. When the baby gets hungry or fussy, mom feeds him/her. Yeah, first timers are pretty clumsy at it and people sometimes stare, but after a few weeks, you have conversations like "So, who'se betting that the Fed will cut the prime by at least three-quarters of a percent? Oh. Is dat'lill'Jeremy hungry?" a couple of buttons open and miraculously, in about 0.5 seconds, the baby is sucking. "Anyway. . what was I saying? Yeah. I bet we get more than a half a percent cut. I mean, what's the one big rule of avoiding a recession, right?"
I just don't see why anyone makes a big deal out of it. It's not really worth commenting over, and it's a lot less icky and messy than bottles or pacifiers. I'd probably nurse until my kids were asking for breast milk in their coffee if I had kids. It just seems so much healthier, easier, more loving than bottles.
Oh, and for whomever couldn't see a reason for bottles. . .I know of several, including adoption and mom being unable (or too ill) to produce milk. I wholeheartedly agree that breast is best, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
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@Rachael F (in re: your post "In Addition")
Bravo, you nailed it precisely! Excellent post, very well-put, balanced, fair, and reasonable. I do so hope you're granted a fancy red star for it ;-)
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I like what Rachel F. wrote.
My neighborhood has a cemetary and many of the women buried there are described with 2 syllables: mother. Reproducing is part of life. Bugs do it, bees do it, even the flowers and the trees do it. We're hardwired to do it. It's what we choose to do that's more interesting to me.
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Breastfeeding is an intimate act
It's not the same as eating a bowl of soup. It's a baby sucking on a mother's nipple. It's a very intimate act between a mother and a baby. Being exposed to intimate acts between strangers makes a lot of people uncomfortable. While I support breastfeeding in public, I agree that it should be done discreetly, not because it is dirty but because it is private. I expect the same discretion for other private acts - like lovers showing affection, or couple's fighting, or parent's disciplining children. We've sort of blurred the line between "private" and "public", to the point that a lot of people think that it's okay to let the whole world see their private moments. But that doesn't mean that the whole world actually wants to see them. If this woman had enough prescience to have a copy of the law handy, it seems to me that she could have thought ahead and brought a light blanket along, too. That way she could have fed her baby AND not offended other patrons of the restaurant. Wouldn't that be the best for everybody?