Miss Cellania wrote me today with a news story in the Leader Post she’d found. It turns out the Highway32.ca crew that is seeking road repairs from the government, have made a calendar to raise awareness and funds. The province is responsible for fixing highways, but they neglect rural infrastructure to the best of their ability, and use the money on their beloved “education and healthcare” excuse instead. It wouldn’t be so bad if they did spend the money on ed and health instead, but we have among the longest wait times in the country, and I work in the education field, and my wage doesn’t even keep up with inflation.
==
A lively commenter has declared breastfeeding “shameful” and “lowerclass”. What are babies supposed to eat, Cordon Bleu?
Apparently, women only breastfeed in public to be exhibitionists, and if we allow that, the whole moral fabric of society will unravel, and we’ll be left with chaos and men peeing and pooping in public [because that never happens right now]. Imagine the anarchy, where instead of “nurse-ins” with breastfeeding mothers protesting for a right to openly bare their boobs to their babies, we’ll have roving mobs of men staging “pee-ins” for the right to pee whenever, wherever they want. Possible sites of protest include the National War Memorial, where urinaters were so rudely interrupted while relieving themselves upon the monument last July. Yup, it’s a slippery slope people, and it will just get slipperier if people keep spraying milk and pee on it all the time. (Sorry for the gross visual image you may have just formed, but we have to remember what chaos would look like if we want to be motivated enough to avoid it.)
There’s absolutely no difference between a mother feeding a crying infant with the organ designed for that purpose, and a guy in a business suit whipping it out so he can answer the call of nature all over the street, floor, or dinner table. I just had an idea. If women wore some kind of long cloth, over their head, and big enough to cover their entire body, they could slip a baby under it, and feed it without exposing any skin. Then decent society would be safe from those attention grubbing mother-monsters.
Oh, I found a cloth just like I was thinking of. I guess all the good ideas were taken years ago. Let’s see about getting these distributed to nursing mothers ASAP!
==
Speaking of women who know their place, it’s fortunate for Rona Ambrose that she keeps having conflicting appointments made for her so she doesn’t have to be questioned about the environment.
Miss Cellania | 29-Nov-06 at 10:51 pm | Permalink
Wow, I just spent a LOT of time reading the breastfeeding comments. He DID say breastfeeding was shameful, several times, along with “unsanitary”. What? That was strange. But the strangest was how breastfeeding mothers were man-haters who just wanted to expose themselves. What? Like you, I first thought he was being facaetious, since he referred to himself as an “ultra right-winger”, which is usually an exagerated and derogatory term.
M@ | 29-Nov-06 at 11:19 pm | Permalink
Miss C, I urge you to:
1. Become more classy
2. Reject breastfeeding, as it’s dirty and sexy and not sophisticated
3. Not comment regarding posts about nudity, which is also unsanitary and not classy
Thank you.
Sean, if you’re reading, please feel free to add to these points as necessary. I think I’ve covered most of our bases, here, but I feel quite certain that you will have more — much, much more — to say on the matter.
SkylarKD | 30-Nov-06 at 10:07 am | Permalink
Shameful and lowerclass - I love that. Guess the commenter doesn’t have many “upper class” friends, family, or acquaintances, or he would have seen lawyers, doctors and executives who breastfeed their children when they’re hungry.
Interesting that he assumes you can tell who’s who just by looking at them..
rose | 30-Nov-06 at 10:11 am | Permalink
I just left a huge rant. Looking back though, I think the guy is a bit on the “lower end of the evolutionary scale” or maybe a bit mentally challenged. Maybe we shouldn’t be so mean. Its obvious by his writings and logic that there’s a few sandwiches short of a picnic goin’ on there.
Saskboy | 30-Nov-06 at 11:09 am | Permalink
Ashley and I were discussing last night the interesting conversation. It’s impossible not to speculate what family situation/experiences someone would have to go through to develop such a twisted form of logic and self-referential justification. Perhaps mental or physical abuse hammered those ideas into Sean’s head - who knows? Only he does, and maybe he doesn’t realize just how wrong the people who taught him those things were to do it. As you say Rose, maybe we shouldn’t be so mean, because obviously something is wrong for ideas that dysfunctional to be expressed seriously without hesitation.
SUZANNE | 30-Nov-06 at 5:23 pm | Permalink
As someone who only exceptionally breastfed in public (and that in a very discreet manner) I would say that you can plan your day to figure out where you’re going to breastfeed.
I wouldn’t ban breastfeeding in public, but I so see where the commenter is coming from. I support breastfeeding. I intensely dislike “lactivists”. This idea that nobody else’s concerns matter irks me to no end. The eroticization of the breast in our culture will make people feel uncomfortable about seeing a baby breastfeed. Emotions are not always right or wrong; it’s a matter of respect to be considerate of what other people might feel.
I think there are a large number of hopelessly fuddy-duddy prudes out there that would rather a baby go needlessly hungry, or be fed chemical crud from a bottle constantly, than to be fed from a breast naturally.
How about the mom plan the day so the baby does not go hungry? How about mom find a room where she can go to feed? This is what I did as a breastfeeding mother. I do not like exposing my breasts to the world, I do not like making others uncomfortable. You are not a prude because you are conscious of the erotic quality of the breast in our culture. You are not a prude because you make the unconscious and immediate association between what a child does to his mom, and what a man does to a woman he’s having sex with. In my book, it’s natural to make the association and absolutely normal. Everybody has their own comfort zone when it comes to modesty, and it’s not wrong to have a sense of modesty. There’s more than one side to this debate.
Saskboy | 30-Nov-06 at 8:13 pm | Permalink
Suzanne, I understand your logic, but I can’t say that I agree with it. Your line of thinking leads down the path to self-image problems, which lead to senseless self hate, eating disorders, sexual relationships for approval, and thus bolsters things no woman wants. You can’t live your life completely on what other people might think of you for doing it.
Hiding one’s lactating boob from casual glances or inappropriate stares is not modesty. Modesty is realizing that your breast is not going to bring society crashing down around you. A boob isn’t that important - that’s why it was so farcical the way the FCC and American public reacted to the Superbowl live TV stunt the other year. The act of exposing a nipple is no more unnatural or shocking in reality than blowing your nose, wearing sandles, or shorts.
“The eroticization of the breast in our culture will make people feel uncomfortable about seeing a baby breastfeed. Emotions are not always right or wrong; it’s a matter of respect to be considerate of what other people might feel.”
Ask yourself then, are you going to contribute to the problem of breast eroticization, or be part of the solution by normalizing the primary function of the exposed breast?
rose | 01-Dec-06 at 9:53 am | Permalink
I respect those who do not want to bare it all in public to feed their child, but as for those who do……if someone else is uncomfortable with it they can turn their heads. If they continue to stare, then its their own problem. Its not always easy to plan your day around feeding a child, especially for mothers that work, babysit, have other toddlers/children. Sometimes things have to get done and your baby comes along with you. If she’s screaming on the bus, a good way to quiet her down is to stick a boob in her mouth. If a mom wants to do that, all the power to her, if not, then she may just get lynched by annoyed bus patrons, but I respect her modesty. My problem with that Sean guy is that he is trying to impose his insecurities and religious views on other people by saying there should be laws against it. If it offends you, you really CAN look away. And if you are worried that your child might see a breast, maybe its a good opportunity to explain to that child that breasts aren’t to be eroticized, that that just objectifies women and makes them feel ashamed to do what most naturally comes to them when they have babies, and that is breast feed. Maybe the child will grow up not obsessing about breasts and sex and have a healthier respect for women. I say power to the lactivists. I said it before, but many of these lactivists are stay-at-home moms and are not radical raging feminists. They want the best for their children. So you can intensely dislike someone for what they believe in if you want, but considering they have th best interest of their child at heart you should at least respect them.
Well-to-do upper class Seanny who is all about the class and BMW’s and expesive restaurants OBVIOUSLY has a serious problem with women and is threatened by sexuality. I actually feel sorry for him. I don’t really get the need for some people to control the actions of so many others, which is big in the religious community, but I suspect is mostly about fear. I pity those who live a life of guilt, shame and fear and think others should live the same way.