There are a lot of things I'm tolerant of. A LOT. I'm for just about every kind of right there is. Breast milk or formula? Your choice. Circumcised or intact? Don't care. Spanking or no spanking? Whatever works for you. Breast feeding until the kids are 20? That's between you guys. All these things and many more are a matter of parental prerogative. Obviously I have an opinion, because I made the choice for my own kids. But what you want to do is your own business, it's your own kids that you made, and you're the one that lives with the consequences whatever they may be. My butt is out. LOL

However, there is one topic that frankly pisses me off: nursing in public. I'm not talking about the people who use a cover or even the ones who have nursing shirts that only expose the part the baby's latched on to. Although I would like to see you get the baby on and off without flashing a nipple. Or rather, I wouldn't. I have fed my baby any place you can think of. If he's hungry, he eats. I'm not going to go hide in a bathroom, but I'm tasteful. I'm considerate of those around me. I try to have some class. I try to be a decent human being in general.

Most breastfeeding moms agree. They're not uncomfortable with feeding their baby. They're uncomfortable with strangers seeing their breasts. Or forcing them to. If everyone is supposed to be just hunky dory with all this "natural" stuff, why don't we put toilets and urinals out in the store aisles? Why is it illegal to have sex in public? Why is it gross to smell someone else's fart? These are all natural functions of the human body.

I love the bottle feeding argument. You know, that since it's ok for someone to feed a baby out of an uncovered bottle, it should be ok to feed one out of an uncovered breast. Did I miss something? Are bottles now considered a private part of the human anatomy? "Now, Suzie, it's important that you don't go around letting the boys see or touch your Dr. Brown's Natural Flow baby bottle. It's not appropriate and you'll get a bad reputation." My elementary school teachers stapled shut the pages of National Geographic with topless African natives, but not one bottle ad. I know boobs are no big deal in Europe, but I don't live there. I wish all the annoying lactivists would.

There are a lot of things people flaunt that I don't care to see. Sure, that doesn't stop people from putting on revealing clothes, groping their girlfriend at the checkout, or clearing the phlegm out of their throat right in front of me. But I know what I think when I see those things. Yuck. Slutty. Poor taste. Rude. These are NOT words I want associated with my precious, beautiful baby. What we share is lovely and I would be foolish to allow it to be viewed as anything else. Just like swim suits are ok at the beach but not at a restaurant, there is a place for whipping that titty right out. It's called home. Whether it's for the baby or your significant other, let's just keep it that way.

So to those moms who feel the need to picket with their boobs: Yeah, you have the right. It's written in some law book somewhere. So by golly just milk that for all it's worth. (No pun intended.) I know how powerful it makes you feel. You have the right to offend people, so I guess that means you should. Whatever makes you feel good. But I'm going to say right here right now, that it's not a matter of parenting choices. It's a matter of common decency and when it comes to this issue, you have none.

This won't change any minds, but it's about time "our side" gets belligerent!

Tags: public breast feeding, lactivists, nudity, decency

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