Naturally Offensive

An oxymoron, yes. Today I read Glamour magazine while eating a great salad and enjoying the weather at Kowalski's with my boy (yes, life as a stay at home mom is tough sometimes) when I came upon a slew of opinions about breastfeeding. The mag must have featured a story on this subject last month, and the opinions I read were in the editorial section.

To be fair, I never thought very much about breastfeeding prior to pregnancy. I guess I figured breastfeeding was natural, and I did consider that walking, talking kids were probably beyond the need for mom's milk. I was not breastfed as a baby, but my family seemed supportive of whatever I chose for my own baby. Formula seemed a viable option, and sometimes when I am up all night I do wish Dad could help out. For whatever reasons, I'm doing it, people.

Most of the opinions expressed in Glamour seemed in favor of breastfeeding (or, really, in favor of doing "whatever you want"---isn't that a tragic epidemic?); however, many felt that such encounters should occur only in one's own home. I guess I do understand how some people might be conflicted about women who "whip it out" to breastfeed in public...not everyone wants to see that. I can also empathize with the woman who was woefully exposed at Lake Harriet this summer, though: she had 2 other tots running around and was doing whatever she could to get that infant fed. Discretion was hardly at the forefront of her mind, nor should it have beens

The main point, in my mind, is not whether breastfeeding overexposes society to bare breasts (let's all agree that MTV has that covered...or uncovered) but rather that breastfeeding IS unarguably natural and (perhaps even more importantly) a woman who breastfeeds ONLY in her own home could never, ever leave her home. My kid, at least, eats constantly@

Can I endure imprisonment in my 1 bedroom apartment? No. Should I endure it?

Thankfully, I don't care enough about your opinion to change the way I'm getting nutrition to Tommy.