Social Question

fizzbanger's avatar

What do you think of the breastfeeding demonstrations at Target?

Asked by fizzbanger (2765points) December 28th, 2011

So, apparently a bunch of moms are fired up about a Texas woman getting the stink eye from some Target employees for nursing a baby in the middle of the women’s clothing section. They quietly asked her to use a fitting room, but she refused, and now expects a formal apology from Target.

Today, hordes of mothers are staging a “nurse-in” at Target stores nationwide in support of this woman, gathering with their infants to purposely breastfeed out in the open.

What are your thoughts about this?

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66 Answers

Blackberry's avatar

That’s awesome. It’s really easy for us to forget we’re actually human sometimes. And by “human”, I mean an animal. It’s not the fault of the mothers that society sexualized nudity. It’s just a mam gland, people.

Bellatrix's avatar

I don’t have a problem with the woman breastfeeding in Target or the mothers who are telling Target it shouldn’t be a problem for them.

@Blackberry, indeed.

fizzbanger's avatar

@Blackberry Haha, now I’m picturing someone saying “Ma’am, please cover up those ma’am glands…”

jonsblond's avatar

If I had a Target near me I would more than likely be there in support of the mothers. I’ve breastfed all my children and I know what these moms have been through just to feed their child.

deni's avatar

@Blackberry You’re so right!

What the hell is wrong with our society. “Hey, lady, why the hell are you feeding your child from your breast? Go buy some chemical-laden formula over in aisle 7! Gross!”

Soupy's avatar

I support them. People try to shame mothers into hiding, as if feeding a baby is something dirty. Babies should be breast fed when they are hungry, not just when a mother is able to find a dark corner away from the prudes.

YARNLADY's avatar

I support them completely.

CWOTUS's avatar

I don’t have problems with women breastfeeding infants in any place that is safe for both of them. However, I also don’t have a problem with a store manager or owner or agent (or other employee or owner or manager of any other business) requesting that patrons refrain from certain activities in certain areas. After all, the Target employees didn’t say that the mother couldn’t breastfeed “at all”, did they? They only wanted her to do it in another place. It seems to me that the place they offered wasn’t “a closet”, or “storeroom” or rest room – it likely would have been a more comfortable and private place. In any case, it seems to have been (based only on the OP’s question) a more or less reasonable request.

The woman could have complied, or she could have refused and left the store. I don’t think an apology is warranted (based on what I’m reading here), and I don’t think this is an issue deserving of widespread protest.

Just because we’re “animals” doesn’t enable us to perform every “animal act” wherever the fancy strikes us, does it?

For the record, my wife breastfed both of our kids in public all the time, and I supported that, too.

WillWorkForChocolate's avatar

Awww damn, I missed it? My kids are older now, but if that had happened near me, I so would have gone and “nursed” a baby doll to show my support!

fizzbanger's avatar

I guess I should have added these to the question part, as well. My curiosities:

-Is there some kind of extreme urgency that happens when it’s “feeding time” that warrants it being done on the spot?

-Would taking it into a room really have caused the mother a giant inconvenience?

Personally, if I were feeding a baby, I think I’d feel more comfortable using a little nook with a seat and hooks to hang my stuff. Since she was in a clothing section, the dressing room couldn’t have been far.

-Why should only certain “natural” acts be considered permissible in public?

A girl I work with got arrested for indecent exposure when she squatted to pee in a bush, and this was in a dark area behind a building, not in an aisle at a busy store.

jonsblond's avatar

@fizzbanger You may feel more comfortable going somewhere private but many women have no problem breastfeeding standing up for a few minutes. There is a bit of urgency when the babies are very young. A mother will start leaking on the spot and that can be very uncomfortable. If you want to be fair, then you should also ask parents with bottles to take their children somewhere private. Many parents walk around the store with their babies and a bottle by their side, ready to stick it in the baby’s mouth as soon as it needs it. If a mom has her breast covered, I really don’t see what the problem is. Some people are just afraid of seeing a little boobie out in public, unless of course they are at a beach or public pool, then that’s ok.

CWOTUS's avatar

To answer some of your follow-up questions, @fizzbanger (the ones I have experience with, at least):

- The ‘extreme urgency’ is likely to be a squalling baby, demanding to be fed NOW. I think that most babies send signals that most mothers can pick up on to know that “the time is growing nigh”, and the baby is getting hungry. We seldom had screaming infants in public, because my wife picked up on their cues and started feeding them. That was probably most often in restaurants, since we were on the road a lot in those days.

- I agree that some natural acts are NOT permitted in some public areas. For example, Target may have been concerned more with potential soiling of new clothing more than any accidental skin exposure. Many stores and other businesses prohibit feeding and eating of all kinds while on the premises.

judochop's avatar

A mother should be supported in breast feeding anywhere and anytime. To play it off as taboo is fucking ridiculous.

jonsblond's avatar

@CWOTUS Many stores and other businesses prohibit feeding and eating of all kinds while on the premises.

I see babies with bottles all the time when I’m out shopping. I’ve never seen an employee ask that they should take the bottle outside or that the child could not be fed in the store. A bottle would make more of a mess than a breast would.

RealEyesRealizeRealLies's avatar

What’s next… public masturbation demonstrations?

saw that once. dude got a standing ovation

Judi's avatar

I wish I would have known! I know my daughter would have gone down to Target. She’s an advocate for normalizing nursing in public.
My MIL tried to get my daughter to go into the bathroom to feed the baby at her country club.
My daughter told her, ” Grandma, how would you like to eat your meal in the bathroom?”

YARNLADY's avatar

@Judi how would you like to eat your meal in the bathroom EXACTLY. That is my opinion as well. I prefer to eat in the cafeteria, and I’m sure the baby would too.

ANef_is_Enuf's avatar

I can’t believe this is still an issue. :\
Breasts are for feeding babies. This is not perverted, this is nature.

nikipedia's avatar

I don’t have any problem with breastfeeding in public, but I also think it’s outrageously self-righteous to stage a thousands-wide protest against a perfectly reasonable request.

fizzbanger's avatar

@jonsblond I agree with you, however, I think boobies are less jarring in a setting where people expect them, like a pool or the beach, not while picking up toothpaste and paper towels. Also, it’s not just the boobies alone that makes people uncomfortable, but the infant latching to them and the interaction/murmuring noises.

I wouldn’t care about seeing some feeding in passing at a store, but if I were about to eat a meal at a restaurant and some feeding was happening in front of me at close proximity, I’d ask to switch tables. Not because I think it’s perverted, or out of disrespect. I would just lose my appetite (a personal thing).

@ANef_is_Enuf I guess my opinion on the Q is that I don’t really see purposely shoving breastfeeding in peoples’ faces as beneficial (the demonstration, not people doing it out of necessity during their everyday routine). They’re giving the haters more of a reason to hate by making it seem like all mothers that breastfeed in public are purposely trying to be ostentatious about it.

jonsblond's avatar

@fizzbanger I guess my opinion on the Q is that I don’t really see purposely shoving breastfeeding in peoples’ faces as beneficial

Then I assume you have a problem with Gay Pride Parades since you feel this way?

RealEyesRealizeRealLies's avatar

If it’s between hearing the child cry, or seeing a lip lock on a teat, I say give it up mom.

fizzbanger's avatar

@jonsblond No, I was just trying to say that it may unintentionally shed a negative light on mothers.

RealEyesRealizeRealLies's avatar

Must we all attend the art museums to learn what life is about? I’ll be glad for the day when we can learn about life by simply living it.

jonsblond's avatar

@fizzbanger These women are standing up for the right to feed their children naturally in public instead of using a plastic nipple that no one seems to have a problem with. How does this shed a negative light on mothers? How is feeding a child how it was meant to be fed and standing up for this right a bad thing? I just don’t get it. How is the sound of a baby sucking on plastic any different from sucking on the real thing? Why should women be asked to go somewhere private when a few people have a problem with this? too many questions, I know. I need to go to bed. goodnight

fizzbanger's avatar

@jonsblond I really don’t know whether in this instance the Target employees were asking the woman to go to another room, or offering her a space as a courtesy since she was sitting on the floor in a hectic environment? Honestly, I don’t think anyone was harmed either way, or that the employees did anything wrong (if they made faces, well, what do you expect in a public setting?). It’s not like they told her to stop, or to leave the store. The main reason for the demonstration is that Target has not issued an apology to the woman, which I think is preposterous.

cazzie's avatar

This happened to me once and of all places, it was in the very progressive city of Amsterdam. It was a hot summer day and my husband had left me and my son on a comfy bench while he looked at clothes in the store. My son started fussing, so I grabbed a blanket from the pram and comforted him. A lady employee came over and pointed to a small, airless dressing room area. I told her that if I moved, my husband wouldn’t be able to find me. She was flustered and embarrassed and so was I. I just took my baby off my boob and let him cry and raise a racket instead. My husband then found me, angry and the baby crying. I told him what happened and we promptly left.

When most mother’s are breastfeeding it simply looks like they are sitting quietly with their babies. What the hell is wrong with that?

@fizzbanger all that is your own problem and issue and it shouldn’t be made the mother and baby’s problem. They aren’t doing anything wrong or shameful and should NEVER be made to feel so. And are you SERIOUSLY equating breast feeding an infant with urination? I know who should be feeling the shame. ‘tsk ‘tsk.

Incoherency_'s avatar

I think it’s great that Target is DEMONstrating how to breast feed! ;-)
<——— Rosemary’s breast-fed baby. ;-=

cookieman's avatar

I’m fine with the protest. What the hell, right? I think asking for an apology is a bit silly though. I’m sure the Target employee was perfectly polite about it.

As for breastfeeding in public…my general rule of thumb is that if it keeps the munchkin from screaming, do it.

My biggest pet peeve are parents obliviously strolling around a store while the kid screams bloody murder. Comfort the kid, stop and play with him, breast feed him, and (if all else fails), leave the store. Inconvenience yourself, not the other shoppers. I can’t tell you how many times I left carriages full of stuff sitting in an aisle when my daughter decided to throw a fit.

I say, breast-feed away.

OpryLeigh's avatar

Like @fizzbanger said, it depends on why they suggested she move to a dressing room. It could have been out of courtesy to the mother rather than prudishness towards her boob being out. Without knowing all the facts here I can’t say what my opinion on the protest is. If she was sat on the floor feeding then she may have been in the way of other customers. That has nothing to do with being a mother and everything to do with causing difficulty for others so, asking her to move may have been for the best interests of other shoppers without being anything to do with the actual breast feeding.

If the intentions on the staff were well meaning then the protesters need to get off their high horses and realise the world doesn’t revolve around them. If the intentions were purely because the staff were uncomfortable with the breast feeding then better training is needed to ensure that no woman is made to feel uncomfortable for feeding her child.

Adirondackwannabe's avatar

@fizzbanger This question cracked me up because of something that happened just before Christmas. I’m in Upstate NY and we’ve had a big influx of Mennonites and Amish families lately. They’re great for the area. They also all breastfeed. I’m in the farmer’s market in Cooperstown and I go up to one of the booths and two women are there, both breastfeeding their children. I picked out what I wanted and paid one of the women, and got my change, all the while she was feeding the kid. Neither of us had any problem with it. Come on people, grow up.

CWOTUS's avatar

@cazzie

You kind of skirted the point I was trying to make earlier, but you didn’t address it.

Suppose the store manager feels – whether rightly or wrongly makes no difference to this argument – that a majority of his customers would be offended, upset or “put off” as @fizzbanger says she was. Does he not have the right – in fact, the duty to the store owners and patrons – to enforce the business’ norms? Why does he (or she) have to accede to the demands (and maybe unreasonable demands, at that) of one woman who chooses to break those norms? And if she was sitting in a shopping area, then she may very well have been placing herself and her infant in danger, too. That adds a liability issue – to the store – because if anyone fails to see them sitting on the floor and trips over them or drops something on them, then guess who will be sued.

If you don’t like store policies you have every right to complain to the manager or simply vote with your feet, leave the store and never return. The protesters even have the right to make their current protest. I just think it’s the wrong protest, aimed at the wrong people and for the wrong reason. I think it’s silly.

Judi's avatar

If it wern’t for sit ins, the “social norms” of the south wouldn’t have changed and we would still have segregated bathrooms and drinking fountains.
It is morally wrong to limit feeding children, especially in a society that has half naked women on every billboard, magazine and TV commercial.
I think it is important that the other side of the breast story at least be allowed to be shown, it doesn’t get anywhere near equal time.
Our local news station was having this conversation on Facebook. One guy was arguing against breast feeding in public, but had his Facebook page covered with hooters girls. How hypocritical.
I say, if you don’t want to see it, put a blanket over your head.

jonsblond's avatar

And this is why women who breastfeed in public feel shamed, because some consider them to be on their “high horse” when they are protesting their right to feed their child. Is anyone going to tell the parents with bottles to go sick in a tiny dressing room to feed their children because you know, those bottles can be dangerous projectiles if a baby throws it. Someone could get hit in the face and need to go to the hospital!

Great answer @Judi!

RealEyesRealizeRealLies's avatar

Don’t Target employees have anything better to complain about… like teenage hoodlums wearing their jeans down to their ankles? Or fully 1/10th of every shopper reeking of Chronic Supernova Skunk Weed? How about POP Cosmo headlines teaching curious young preteen girls how to date ten men at once by knowing how to touch a naked man with their new found 75 irresistible sex moves

RealEyesRealizeRealLies's avatar

On the other hand, if the demonstrators performed like this, I might shop there more often.

nikipedia's avatar

Out of curiosity, do those of you who support breast feeding in public think breasts should be permitted to be exposed in public in general?

jonsblond's avatar

I was curious so I looked at several different articles to learn more about what happened. The woman in question was sitting in a remote area of the store with her breast completely covered with a large blanket. She said not a single customer walked by when she was sitting. I don’t know what mom would just plop herself in the middle of an aisle, so this supports what I assumed the mother did (she sat somewhere where she would be out of the way). She was then surrounded by 8 employees (8!) and was asked to go to a fitting room. She told them that Texas law supports nursing in public and she had the right to feed her child. The employees continued to ask her to move and gave her dirty looks. The mom wasn’t hurting anyone.

@nikipedia When women breast feed their children the breast is not exposed. The majority of women are as discreet as possible and cover the baby with a blanket. You see more tit at a beach. You can’t compare the two. I hope you never have to deal with what many women in America have to deal with when breast feeding their children. It will be moms like us who pave the way for future moms like you.

RealEyesRealizeRealLies's avatar

I’d rather there be a law against hairy plumbers butt crack than free willie boobies.

cookieman's avatar

^^ I’d vote for that. ^^

cazzie's avatar

@CWOTUS Don’t know how my answer leaves anyone in any question about what ever it is you added to the thread. I was answering the posters question. Not your individual addition to the thread. Sticking a fussing baby in a cramped, airless, hot space is not fair, ethical or just. If they want to make it difficult for woman to shop, they will go elsewhere, but they should NOT have to.

keobooks's avatar

I am still nursing my 15 month old daughter, though it’s only twice a day now. I have many friends that I met in my hospital’s breastfeeding support group that went to the demonstration yesterday. I didn’t go because I hate going shopping during the holiday season and I won’t go anywhere until after new years and I’m sure all the crowds are gone.

I’ve also never gotten any flack from breastfeeding in public—except once. And it was another breastfeeding mom who was aghast that I didn’t use one of those ridiculous nursing covers like she did. My daughter has always refused to nurse with her head covered.

I live in a pretty conservative part of the country and yet I’ve never had the experience other moms have had. So I don’t really get fired up about demonstrations and whatnot.


For those suggesting nursing on the toilet—aside from the “would YOU eat on the toilet?” argument, I’ll just let you know—I tried nursing on the toilet and it is almost impossible. You need to be able to lean back to nurse, and public toilet seats don’t let you do that. When a baby is young, armrests help a LOT and there are no armrests. Also, nursing a very young tot can take 40 minutes or so. Would you like to be a nonbreastfeeding woman who really has to pee and the toilet is being hogged up for 40 minutes by someone nursing a baby?

Dutchess_III's avatar

It is freaking ridiculous. I know I’m in the minority here, but I can tell you, from experience, it is possible to discretely nurse your baby, even in a crowd of people! I did it quite often, and never got a dirty look, not even from people sitting right next to me, because they didn’t know I was doing it!

Now, if there was no way to be discrete, if the only option was to let it all hang out, then I’d be all for the demonstration. But that is not the case. So when it comes to throwing breast feeding fits in public, I think it’s just another example of bored people finding stupid things to get up on their high horse about to make themselves feel important.

RealEyesRealizeRealLies's avatar

@cprevite “I’d vote for that.”

Careful what you ask for. The hairy ass crack low riders of the world will unite to march in protest right through your neighborhood. We can’t afford to have so much meat crack assembled in one place.

Adirondackwannabe's avatar

I finally gave in and against my better judgement opened the butt crack picture. Not highly recommended for the faint of heart.

CWOTUS's avatar

No, @cazzie, you simply ignored my point again.

Regardless of what is “fair, ethical or just” (and that’s mighty overblown language for “please have a seat in the dressing room”, but whatever) it’s the store’s property, it’s their customer base that they want to please, either by allowing or disallowing nursing in public, and it’s their liability if someone sitting on the floor in a public area with an infant is harmed by someone else (or harms someone by creating an obstruction). The customer can complain, argue for a change in policy, or walk away.

You can argue until you’re blue in the face what people “should not have to do”, but if you don’t own or manage the store and set policy, then it’s not up to you or however many people you get to agree with you.

I agree with @Dutchess_III that this is really a non issue. My wife was breastfeeding in public twenty-five years ago with never a word said that I knew of, and I was with her more often than not, too. She also didn’t sit in store aisles to do it, either.

Dutchess_III's avatar

She breast fed for TWENTY FIVE YEARS @CWOTUS.??...Oh 25 years ago! Sorry!

@CWOTUS Thank you for that. I sat in bleachers in the middle of a crowd at gymnastics meets and breast fed. Nobody said a word—‘cause they didn’t know.

Do some women want to make a Big Deal over the fact that they’re nursing, so go out of their way to make it obvious? If I’d been in the middle of a department store, everyone would have assumed I was just resting, waiting for someone, and had a sleeping baby in my arms.

cazzie's avatar

@CWOTUS, Where does it say women are sitting in store isles to breastfeed? In my story, I wasn’t. In the original poster’s question, I don’t see a reference to ‘sitting in the middle of the isle, blocking people’. I wasn’t talking about this ‘specific’ case, I was relating a story of my own and the rest. I don’t go through everyone’s posts and reply to each and every one, especially if you are not the OP.

@jonsblond , in fact, clarifies the particulars of this situation. The woman was sitting in a discrete corner with a blanket over the business. Not to mention, Texas law is on her side, not the shop owner. You can look up with else Texas law says about owning a store and the rules they must abide, like access for wheelchairs, public bathrooms if the sq.m. of the store is over a certain size, amenities for the staff etc… So, you see, the owner of the store and building doesn’t have the authority to deny someone’s right to sit out of the way and discretely breast feed their baby.

So, @CWOTUS, feeling less ignored now?

Dutchess_III's avatar

How everyone knew she was nursing, if she had a blanket over the baby?

jonsblond's avatar

@Dutchess_III Why else would a woman with a baby have a blanket over her shoulder? Even if you can’t see the boob, it’s pretty easy to figure out what is going on.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Not necessarily. My babies often slept on my shoulder or in my arms with blankets over their head to keep out some of the light and noise.

Once, at an indoor pool, some older ladies came over wanting to see the baby! When I pulled the blanket away they about tripped over themselves getting away. “O. She’s eating…” I kind of felt bad for them because that kind of reaction is silly, IMO.

Brian1946's avatar

“I think it is important that the other side of the breast story at least be allowed to be shown, it doesn’t get anywhere near equal time.”

I don’t know if this has been posted here before, but here’s another side of that story.

CWOTUS's avatar

Thanks for the link, @Brian1946. Obviously, some employees (and managers!) aren’t getting the information they need (or there’s an unstated policy that contravenes the written one).

Dutchess_III's avatar

The link is blank for me Brian1946. : ( Can someone copy and paste it for me?

Brian1946's avatar

@Dutchess_III

It took almost a minute for the page to load for me.

Anyway, here’s the text:

“Target is in hot water again after employees at a Houston Target store harassed a breastfeeding mother, in contravention of their own corporate breastfeeding policy. Michelle Hickman was Christmas shopping on the evening of November 29, 2011 and had a basket full of planned purchases when her baby woke up and needed to be fed. Hickman found a quiet space to nurse her baby (as in the image above) and was harassed and humiliated by Target staff for doing so. When she complained to Target guest relations about the incident, she was further harassed by the woman on the phone and accused of “flaunting it” and was then dismissed by that woman’s supervisor too.

Hickman told her story to the Best for Babes Foundation, an organization that works to beat the “booby traps” that prevent moms from meeting their own breastfeeding goals. Describing the scenario in the store, Hickman wrote about what happened after she sat down and started nursing her baby, using a nursing cover that completely covered him:

Two female employees came and verbally asked me to move. The 2nd one told me that Target employees had been told/trained to interrupt nursing and to redirect mothers to the fitting rooms. Even after I informed the 2nd employee of my legal right to nurse in public she still suggested me moving closer to the jean display, turning to face another direction, and also turn my basket a certain way which would have put me practically underneath the jean display and totally barricaded me in. Employee #2 even hinted in a threatening way “you can get a ticket and be reported for indecent exposure” when nothing was being exposed and there was more boob showing from low cut shirts several shoppers were wearing that night.

As this was happening, another three or four employees were standing around watching, shaking their heads, and “making a spectacle” or her nursing. Hickman notes that no one other than store employees even saw her nursing.

The next day, Hickman contacted the Target corporate office and spoke to a guest relations officer. She wanted to notify them of the situation and suggest that they inform their employees of a woman’s legal right to nurse in public. She describes what happened on that phone call:

The lady (I wish I would have gotten her name) told me that she and Target were aware of our legal rights as nursing mothers, but that Target has different policies because they are a family friendly public place. I can’t think of a more family friendly act than breastfeeding and providing the irrefutably proven healthiest diet to my baby. She continued to inform me repeatedly that Target’s policies were different than the law and even went as far to say several times that just because it is a woman’s right to nurse in public even without a nursing cover like I was using doesn’t mean women should walk around “flaunting it” and was extremely rude.

Hickman asked to speak to the woman’s supervisor, but didn’t get any further with the supervisor either.

Target’s Breastfeeding Policy

This isn’t the first time that breastfeeding moms have been harassed at Target. It happened in 2006 in Minneapolis and in 2009 in Michigan. Despite these incidents, Target insists that it supports breastfeeding in its stores. In a 2006 statement on its corporate policy, Target wrote:

Target has a long-standing practice that supports breastfeeding in our stores. We apologize for any inconvenience the guest experienced and will take this opportunity to reaffirm this commitment with our team members. For guests in our stores, we support the use of fitting rooms for women who wish to breastfeed their babies, even if others are waiting to use the fitting rooms. In addition, guests who choose to breastfeed discreetly in more public areas of the store are welcome to do so without being made to feel uncomfortable.

Evidently Target isn’t lacking a breastfeeding policy. However, the company obviously needs to increase training and awareness of the issue among its employees, both in stores and in the corporate offices. Also, Target should perhaps revise its policy to be in line with the law which has no requirement for women to be “discreet” about breastfeeding.

Culture is Part of the Problem

Part of the problem faced by breastfeeding mothers in the United States is that they do stand out. American culture is very focused on bottle feeding babies and on breasts being only about sex. If these Target employees were used to seeing babies breastfed in the store and outside the store every single day, there wouldn’t be any need for corporate training. The act of breastfeeding, when it is seen often, doesn’t stand out as being out of the ordinary. In other countries, where breastfeeding is the norm, these types of incidents are much less likely to happen.

In addition to the need for laws, policies and training to protect breastfeeding mothers, the United States simply needs more mothers to breastfeed openly in public in order to change the cultural paradigm that makes it seem abnormal. The fact that Target has posters of women wearing nothing more than a bra to promote their merchandise, yet will harass a woman who is breastfeeding while completely covered up shows that this is less about supposed “indecency” and more about cultural assumptions.

A series of “nurse-ins” are being planned at Target stores across the country on December 28th at 10:00am to raise awareness about a baby’s right to be fed in public.”

Dutchess_III's avatar

Thank you for counseling patience for me! It did finally load after I just WAITED A MINUTE! “The picture above” would be where @CWOTUS got the idea that she was sitting in the floor aisle. WTH? Why would you sit on the floor???

All in all, if the woman’s side of the story is true, then the Target employees are ignorant asshats. I STILL maintain that it’s possible to do it in such a way in such a spot that it simply looks like you’re resting and your baby is sleeping. Sitting on the floor is not that way. Hell. I’d RATHER been near the changing rooms, where you can sit on a bench. Why wouldn’t you rather sit on a bench? Who cares where it is? What’s wrong with the changing room?

cookieman's avatar

If her story is accurate, then the Target employees were in the wrong. (so much for my assuming they were polite)

That being, I think it’s only fair to hear the employees side of the story. We probably never will. So who knows.

Also, is a department store considered ‘public’ – as in, ‘a mother’s right to breast feed in public’?

Dutchess_III's avatar

@cprevite There is no reason on earth a mother shouldn’t feed her baby in public. I just don’t understand why it’s become such a huge issue in the past couple of years. I was breastfeeding 26 years ago, in public, with no problem. Who made it such a big problem all of a sudden, after all of these years? Mothers who didn’t want to be discrete? Or did people start going around peeking under all baby blankets to see what unGodly thing the mother might be doing with the kid?

CWOTUS's avatar

It sounds like everyone in the story is wrong in some way, save the infant. Welcome to the human race.

Judi's avatar

I think that if showing a little breast by breastfeeding in public is so offensive, then all the sexy breast pictures should be offensive too. We should put all the women in Burka’s and cover them all up all the time.

cookieman's avatar

@Dutchess_III: I don’t disagree with you.

What I asked was, is a department store considered “public”?

I honestly don’t know. I’m asking.

Dutchess_III's avatar

http://www.fluther.com/137107/why-has-breastfeeding-in-public-become-such-a-huge-deal-over/#quip2327765

Well, yes, it’s public, but all public places can be subject to censorship for what ever reason, including courthouses and what have you.

YARNLADY's avatar

I don’t think Department stores are “public” in the sense of publicly owned, like a library or government building, but rather they are privately owned, and open to the general public, subject to the owners rules.

For the purposes of public as refers to breastfeeding, that would be anyplace that is available to the general public.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Department stores are available to general public. What you’re referring to are places that are OWNED by the public. But people could just as easily throw a hissy fit at a court house or a library too.

WilliamHigh's avatar

Yes I think it was right of women to feed their baby openly, it is essential for women to feed their babies and it could be good if they feed her baby openly. I am too supporting the women, gathering with their infants to purposely breastfeed out in the open.

Dutchess_III's avatar

I think it’s stupid.

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