Breastfeeding in public

[holy king]

Well, yes. Winner is, for one.

oh dear...

 

[Aegis]

The last time that I saw a mother breastfeeding in public, I had to pretend that I was annoyed by it because my wife caught me when I was casually looking over at the mother. It was awkward and uncomfortable for me, not because of the nudity, but because "I was in trouble" when I had done nothing wrong.

I have also had a mother who was sitting at a restaurant table directly in front of me begin breastfeeding her child. She tossed me an angry/disgusted look when she realized that she was in my forward field of vision, like I was some kind of lecherous pervert for noticing what she was doing five feet from in front of my face. I don't understand that.

 

[BSmith1068]

The argument was that it was ok to breastfeed in public because it was natural. Isn't there a thing called "indecent exposure" in your country? Isn't that what you're penalized with when peeing in public? Peeing is natural, but doing it in public is against the law because of indecent exposure. The same could be argued for breastfeeding. I think you should think this through a bit more before getting cocky.

I would argue that the primary reason peeing in public (or defecating for that matter) is illegal is not due to indecent exposure, but the inherent public health risks…

You can try and read whatever you want into that, I still never argued that it should be illegalized. Being discrete when breastfeeding in public would just be the way I'd like to see it handled.

I'm surprised that you and some other can't follow a simple argument.

Should peeing in public be legal if it was done discretely?

>.>

The connection between the two which Patroklos was making is that they are both natural and healthy.

• 
  Argument: "breastfeeding in public should be allowed because it is natural and healthy."

• Counter argument: "masturbation in public should be allowed because it is natural and healthy."

I sit in the camp that says that efforts to make it discreet are encouraged and very much appreciated, however mothers should not be forced to go into a bathroom, etc. A simple blanket draped over the mother's shoulder is the easiest solution for common courtesy.

But it ignores the fact that the reason masturbation is not allowed in public is because it is sexual (and could have public health issues) not because it too is natural and healthy. The comparison is ignorant of the other factors involved.

It’s like saying an apple and an orange are the same thing because they are both fruit that grow on trees.

And sorry, there is nothing more or less inherently sanitary about breast feeding over urination of masterbation. All are simple the expulsion of bodily fluids, as long as they are controlled during and afterward there is no difference what so ever.

I call BS on this one. I see what you are trying to say, but come on… when someone pees in public, they are hardly going to take it all with them when they are done. Breast milk on the other hand is almost always 100% taken with the mother when she is done. Either in the baby’s belly or for the minute amount that may spill, on a cloth or rag…

Christ... the baby won't starve in the 10 minutes it will take the mother to get home or to some location where she can feed it without being seen by whole crowds. Stop being so hysteric.

Like .Shane. said… I just love the perspective of people who have never had children on topics like this…

 

[holy king]

Should peeing in public be legal if it was done discretely?

it already is.

you dont get caught, you dont get fined.

 

[BSmith1068]

it already is.

you dont get caught, you dont get fined.

Just because you don't get caught doesn't make it legal...

 

[holy king]

yeah, but migth as well be.

 

[Aegis]

But it ignores the fact that the reason masturbation is not allowed in public is because it is sexual (and could have public health issues) not because it too is natural and healthy. The comparison is ignorant of the other factors involved.

It’s like saying an apple and an orange are the same thing because they are both fruit that grow on trees.

I agree, however you went from "masturbation is natural and healthy" to: "breastfeeding is sexual??" which was missing Patroklos' point. Breastfeeding and masturbation would share the same health issues because they are both secreting bodily fluids.

It can also be argued that exposed breasts are also sexual because breasts do play their part in revving up both partners during fornication.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

I would argue that the primary reason peeing in public (or defecating for that matter) is illegal is not due to indecent exposure, but the inherent public health risks…

I guess we just disagree on that then.

Should peeing in public be legal if it was done discretely?

Should you be fined if you let your kid take a leak in the park?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Should you be fined if you let your kid take a leak in the park?

Depends on how old. One of the purposes of toilet training is developing the necessary neural connections to coordinate conscious muscular control of excretory functions.

 

[Enkidu Warrior]

It's all about priorities. The objections of people who are somehow offended by a woman feeding her baby wherever she feels it necessary to do so should, considering the relative weight rightly afforded to the needs of the mother and baby, be contemptuously cast aside. If any such objections were actually given voice in an obnoxious manner then society should stand with the mother and baby and penalise that objector for what is surely a greater crime than their unfathomable and petty grievance.

 

[BSmith1068]

I agree, however you went from "masturbation is natural and healthy" to: "breastfeeding is sexual??" which was missing Patroklos' point. Breastfeeding and masturbation would share the same health issues because they are both secreting bodily fluids.

It can also be argued that exposed breasts are also sexual because breasts do play their part in revving up both partners during fornication.

While it was a leap and didn’t directly address his comparison – it was an attempt to highlight some of the rather obvious differences in his example that made masturbation and breastfeeding very different (thus neutralizing the underlying argument he was trying to make).

As for the sexual aspects, it all comes down to the person actively performing the act. A mother breastfeeding is not acting in a sexual way. A person masturbating is. That is an important distinction.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

Depends on how old. One of the purposes of toilet training is developing the necessary neural connections to coordinate conscious muscular control of excretory functions.

Say a 7-year old that really has to go and there are no toilets close. If it's done behind a bush - how is that unsanitary? isn't it a natural thing to do?

I'm for discretion with leeway.

As for the pictures provided, I think the first two seems to be the least discrete for what it looks like. It depends on the surrounding area, but neither situation would affect me the least (although the right kid in the 2nd picture looks a bit old for being breastfed..)

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Say a 7-year old that really has to go and there are no toilets close. If it's done behind a bush - how is that unsanitary? isn't it a natural thing to do?

Sure, that's fine. The only way people could come into contact with that was if they went sniffing behind the bush.

I agree, however you went from "masturbation is natural and healthy" to: "breastfeeding is sexual??" which was missing Patroklos' point.

Unconscious comparisons being made are just as important as conscious comparisons being made. I have been sickened enough by political discussions to be aware of this.

 

[stormbind]

What about sex in public? I think Japan has relaxed laws on that.

 

[warpus]

Breastfeeding and masturbation would share the same health issues because they are both secreting bodily fluids.

Eh, not really. Taking a crap on the sidewalk outside of a McDonald's downtown is way different than spitting there. (at least where I come from). Both are examples of bodily fluids being secreted.

 

[stormbind]

Public - spitting, urinating, deficating, sweating, crying, breathing and masterbating all share the property that they excrete bodily fluids into a public space.

Public - breast feeding, kissing, holding hands, resuscitating and copulating all share the property that they share bodily fluids between two persons in public view.

These are two distinct groups of actions.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

What laws do you have against dogs taking a piss on the side-walk?

 

[BSmith1068]

What if we had to grasp at straws for any shred of an argument – would that change the overall point of the discussion?

 

[stormbind]

Well, breastfeeding is related to glandular excressions, health of the mother, as well as health, pleasure or sustinance of another person.

For example, the sudden failure to excrete milk for a prolonged periods of time is apparently painful and potentially damaging.

 

[bhsup]

What if a person's testicles are feeling swollen and painful from reduced gland use - would their action then qualify as medical and non-sexual masterbation?

Then they would need to visit the Atlanta Genital Institute and stop trying to get their noses into totally unrelated issues like breastfeeding.