Do women breastfeed in public in America? I feel like I've seen it in some movies but I can't remember ever seeing it in person. Well, in Vietnam I've seen it in person a hell of a lot. Many mothers here have no shame when it comes to whipping out their boob and letting their little one have a drink. I've got countless stories of being in awkward situations with women and their exposed breast. However, I'm writing this blog because this morning, when riding my bike home from the gym, I was eye to eye with a woman's breast and a baby's lips. As I was riding my bike a bus pulled up besides me. I turned my head and BAM right in the window was a booby. This woman was on a public bus, with a window seat, driving on a busy road yet had her child sucking away. I'm not complaining but frankly Vietnam traffic is dangerous enough without having to be distracted by breasts!
3 comments:
Breasts that are nursing are not meant to be sexual images, they are doing what they were meant to do. Granted, we have been made to feel like we have to cover up - whether it be to put a blanket over the baby's head or go into a secluded bathroom to avoid making other people feel uncomfotable - but GET OVER IT GUYS and GALS!
Ben, women breastfeed in public in America all the time, mostly because they have to. You have to feed your kid, and sometimes it can't wait until you get home. However, like the previous commenter said, you don't see it as much in the US because people make a stink about it. Hence the many nursing tops, blankets, and other "cover ups" that are available for nursing moms. These things are hot and uncomfortable for the baby and the mom too, but sometimes it's a trade off to avoid the dirty looks and the complaints. Or - breastfeeding in the restroom is another thing American moms often feel relegated to doing. You and I both know what public restrooms are like. Would you eat in one? No? Then why should a baby? Feel lucky that you are currently living in a country where women can breastfeed in public without shame or scorn.
Just to clarify: I'm not looking down on breastfeeding in public. I'm merely just writing a post that it is all over the place in Vietnam. As I always do, I try and make these blogs fun to read. Personally I think there's a lot of humor in riding my bike next to a woman breastfeeding on a jam packed bus.
I'm clearly a breastfeeding novice though because I had to good "LaLeche" to know what the first person's name was supposed to mean.
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