After being hassled by Target employees for nursing her baby in the corner of the woman's clothing department, Michelle Hickman had enough, along with about 3,000 other women nationwide.
Hickman brought the attention to this event by sharing her story with a group called Best for Babes Foundation, who later shared it over Facebook, which started the campaigning. They created a "nurse-in" where all these woman would breastfeed in public Targets across the country to hope get their message out that they should not be frowned upon for nursing in public. They protested in about 240 Targets among the US and made sure to focus on Connecticut because of its past with public breast feeding.
Back in 2001 Connecticut past a law saying that woman have the right to breastfeed anywhere they want no matter what public area, but even with laws woman are still getting kicked out of paces or being hassled for doing so. Although during the "nurse-in" Connecticut stores seemed to react positively towards this protest, but many other stores did not. Even with the chain store’s official policy permitting women to nurse anywhere they want in the store, managers still seemed to dislike this and not allow woman to nurse their children.
This has also been brought up to the L&M Hospital to try and make their hospital more baby friendly, by promoting breastfeeding towards new mothers with their newborns. Also The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that it is the healthiest for mothers to breastfeed for the first six months of the baby’s life. The problem is with employees and business owners not allowing woman to nurse in their public stores it is not giving the mother the option to nurse their child as long as the wish or is recommended.
I feel like it depends on the situation, if the women has everything "covered up" which this women did I see nothing wrong with it. And if the breast feeding is done discreetly then I don't see why anyone should get offended or feel that this is inappropriate. I work at the Hudson Public Library and one day a women was there with her baby and was breast feeding in the children's room with very minimal coverage, a lot of the younger children were looking and asking their mothers what she was doing and in that sense I can see why some people who get uncomfortable because then they would have to explain something not exactly age appropriate to their children. And I feel that the nurse in was a perfect approach to protest against the way that this women was unjustly treated at the Target. I think that one way that breast feeding in public could be a more easily accepted thing would be if women could be given a sanitary space, not the bathroom but a separate area in the store, were they could go and feed their children.
ReplyDeleteI agree with John. There's nothing indecent about it because they are all "covered up". Feeding your child in public should not be something the general public is uncomfortable about because I imagine they were all in that infant position at one time or another. I don't know if it would work but I think allowing a space in public venues for women to breast feed, like "resting areas" would be ideal because it allows the woman to breast feed her child without being harassed and in some type of privacy.
ReplyDeleteWomen have the right to have these "nurse-ins". It is in their rights and there is a law stating that it is okay. Science even enforces that women do in fact breastfeed. For a generation to be stronger, healthier, smarter and all around healthier, why wouldn't you just accept that women have to breastfeed their children at a store. I can understand though the uncomfortable factor that bi-standards might have having witnessed a mother nursing. So maybe the mother should have taken her business to a bathroom, or maybe her car. In either of these places women wouldn't be harassed by people who feel the opposite way i do. This women basically set herself up to be been, if she was breastfeeding in a public store not behind clothes doors. although im sure those weren't her intentions. however this act led to a movement that made other new mothers more comfortable feeding their children and this made more women realize their rights to protest and their rights of being a mother in america, so for that we should thank Hickman
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with John just like Laura does. There is nothing wrong with a woman breast feeding as long as she is covered up; it is a way of life. In a way i can see why people may feel uncomfortable being around such a thing, especially young children who do not understand what is happening, but a mother should have no problem explaining to her child that a mother is just feeding her child because there is a big possibility that she did the same to her child. I can personally understand why breast feeding in public can make other feel uncomfortable because I have felt uncomfortable walking by a mother who is breast feeding before, but that was due to the fact that she was not properly covered up. I believe that if a woman doesn't want to properly cover up she should have a separate place to breast feed such as a rest area like Laura stated above. Other than that, if a woman is properly covered up i believe that she should be free to breastfeed in public without harassment because it is a natural way to feed a child.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the women in this movement had the right to do their nurse-in. If there is no law specifically saying that it is illegal for them to do it, then they are within their rights to breast feed in public. I do believe that it may not be socially acceptable and that is what they were trying to combat when taking this action. They sounded as if they were not going to tolerate being told that they couldn't breast feed in public just because it is a socially awkward thing to do. To further support this movement, there should be an announcement of some form detailing that it is okay to perform this action even if it had some sort of compliances like they need to wear a privacy blind sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with John; there is nothing with woman nursing their children because they are covering themselves. Feeding your children in the most natural way is a part of life and in no way hurting anyone or sending the wrong message. Breast-feeding may be uncomfortable for someone to see in public, but as long as the woman are respecting everyone and covering themselves up it should not be a problem; as Laura and Michaela said, we were most likely breast fed as a baby. The most conservative solution to this problem could be to have designated areas were woman can breast feed their children in private- so they and everyone else in the public area feel more comfortable. But overall I feel woman should be able to breast feed in public as long as they are respectful of others and cover up, then it is only a part of a healthy babies life and should not be frowned upon.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone has stated before me, I think that this nurse-in was an appropriate way to get the point across. They weren't harming anyone, just taking a stand against what they believe in. The first amendment gives the right to protest and this is a form of protesting. As long as women are covered up, I don't think there should be any reason that they cannot feed their babies. Although it would be respectful to do it in a place where not many people are there, they shouldn't get in trouble anywhere. I like the idea that Laura said of having a "resting area". This reminds me of the Disney parks where there is the "smokers area" Just like the smokers area, women can go there to feed their children and be with other mothers who are just trying to do the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there is nothing wrong with breast-feeding in public just like my other classmates have said. I think it is a natural thing to do and people need to get over it. If a women needs to breast feed she should be able to do it where ever see wants if she is covered. I do understand it can be uncomfortable for some people but it's a part of life. I do believe that women should be more considerate and if possible do it in a home or a car but i also understand that sometimes you don't have time for that and your baby might be hungry at the time. I also agree with my classmates about having an area for women to go to and have some type of privacy to breast feed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates above. I believe breast-feeding is natural and necessary for the healthy growth of a baby. If doctors recommend that a child should be breast-fed for the first six months of its life, then no one should have a problem with it. I think the nurse-in was a great idea. They were not out of line because they were doing something that is supposedly all right to do by law. There point was to prove that nothing is wrong with breast-feeding and they are not dong anything wrong or harming anyone by doing so. A woman cannot be forced to stay in her home all day to breast feed her baby, she should be able to go out and not worry about it. She would not be able to control when the baby gets hungry, so it should not matter where she is when she needs to breast-feed him/her. I work in retail and my job is to make my customers feel welcome and comfortable in our store and make them want to come back. No woman would want to return to a store and give them her business if they made her feel unwanted and insecure. I think if employees are specifically encouraged to allow women to breast-feed without hesitation, there would not be a problem.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the women were right to hold the nurse-in. Women should be able to nurse wherever they need to. When a baby is hungry, the mother needs to take care of that biological need despite the setting. It's ridiculous to even think about women only being allowed to breastfeed their children in their homes. Babies need to be fed and as the article stated, breastfeeding is much healthier and nutritious for the baby in the first six months. If someone feels that strongly about women breastfeeding in public, they don't have to draw attention to it, no one is forcing anyone to look at the woman breastfeeding. As of right now, I think the only thing to do would be to educate people about a child's needs in the first six months of life and how much healthier breastfeeding is than formula. If people know why women are doing this, they should be much more accepting and there shouldn't be a reason to discriminate against women for caring for their children. Other than that, it just needs to be known that women are allowed to breastfeed their children in public.
ReplyDeleteAlong with my classmates, I agree that women should have the right to breastfeed in public. Just as long as they do it privately and have minimal showing of body parts like John said. Of course it would be inappropriate if the woman just ripped open her shirt and started flaunting her stuff in the middle of the store. I'm totally against that, but not if they did it discreetly. I agree with John's idea of having a private place in the store for women to breastfeed their children. That way the women could breastfeed in private and not be bothering any of the store's employees. Also, I do believe that the nurse-in was a good idea to protest against the stores. They're peacefully protesting by demonstrating what they are fighting for. There's no harm in it and it will show the stores that it is their right to be able to breastfeed and not be harassed about it. Breastfeeding is a healthy part of a baby's life and women should not be stopped for doing it. The stores and their employees need to change their attitude about this whole issue and start treating these women right. They should allow the mothers to breastfeed as long as they are discreet about it. And if they still don't like it, then give the mothers a private area to do their breastfeeding. Something needs to change.
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