The Breastfeeding Witch Hunt-What the heck is going on??
Okay, I am throwing in my two cents.
How come, about every other day, I am reading about another mama who was told not to breastfeed her child somewhere, or Facebook has deemed in their infinite wisdom to remove yet another breastfeeding page supporting nursing moms.
I sometimes think that we in Canada are immune to some of this, that we are somewhat more of a tolerant and accepting society as a whole. (Sorry if that sounds a bit snooty.) But sadly, I am mistaken. Just this month alone we have had the incident in Montreal, where a mom was asked to leave a children's clothing store because she was breastfeeding her baby (and also buying items from them-talk about messed up customer service!!) And even in my own home town in our swanky new art gallery, a mom was asked to stop nursing her baby in a NO FOOD or DRINK zone. This story has a happy ending and the art gallery changed it's policy, but why such a policy existed in the first place is beyond me!??
Now on to Facebook. Does anyone else feel like there is some kind of breastfeeding witch hunt going on there? I mean look at the growing list of pages that have been removed (and then reinstated...and then removed....and then...well, you know).
- The Leaky Boob (twice removed and now reinstated)
- Earthy Motherhood
- Momzelle (A fellow Canadian mom-run business, removed and then reinstated in November 2010)
- and the countless personal pages and pictures that have been removed because of a breastfeeding photo or two.
It seems to me that someone really must be out there LOOKING for these pictures, as Facebook claims that they only remove these pages and pictures once they receive a complaint from users (see the January 2nd New York Times article on the subject).
So who is on this breastfeeding witch hunt? And why? Is someone really out there trying to undermine the breastfeeding moms of the world? That just seems so unlikely (I hope), so then again I am left confused and dismayed as to all the fuss about nursing our babies and (God forbid) taking a picture of these beautiful moments and posting it for others (mostly our friends or like-minded mamas) to see.
And my last thought on the Facebook matter (because they say it is the NIPPLE that is the issue)...
I am pretty darn sure that if a Mama is breastfeeding, then the Baby is ON the nipple and it is likely NOT showing and then your "a nipple is a nipple and we don't care what you are doing" policy is just a bunch of cow's manure!!
And there you have it folks, my two cents....for all it is worth.
BREASTFEED away Mamas-where ever and whenever!!