Ok, so I am new at this. I had one 3 month old during Emily Gillette's incident, and helped organize a nurse-in at that time. I have another baby now, and have been sort of paying attention to lactivist boards for the last two years... but I'm sort of in the dark as to why there is no post here about this incident, and why nothing is apparently being done about it. I got wind of this from the lactivism yahoo! group.
Here is the link: http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.as...0&nav=0RaPH6Oz
Here is the (brief) article:
Entire article removed in keeping with MDC's copyright policy. Please see the above link. Thanks!
My response was as follows, and I'm posting it here with just as much indignation:
Where is everyone? Why aren't we mobilizing? This doesn't sound nearly as innocent as other stories we've heard lately. For starters, FIVE employees? No way a business
can pass that off as the personal belief system of a particular employee! Also, she WASN'T EVEN BREASTFEEDING YET. Are you kidding me? I can be asked to move by sitting down with a baby on my lap? I may type in all caps on occasion, but in real life I would be so flabbergasted if this happened to me... if I'm actually breastfeeding, I find myself gearing up to deal w/ ignorant people. But if I hadn't even begun? Would I know what to say? I wouldn't be ready for it. Asking a mom to move because she is "threatening" to breastfeed... because she MIGHT breastfeed...That's not discrimination against breast-feeders-- that is discrimination against mamas with babies. She could have been sitting down to get a bottle of formula out of her bag, for goodness sakes.
But lastly, I share Nicki's outrage that THEY MOVED HER OLDER CHILD. I hope that this would bring out the all-caps in me if anything would. I hope I would cause a big scene with a little bit of yelling. This is ridiculous. No one should touch a stranger's baby, let alone start to move him or her to another location without being told to do so by the caretaker.
So, where is everyone? What is going to be done about this? Is there already a group working on this?
ETA: I'm ready to put a baby boy on each boob and nurse them at the local Wal-Mart, but it isn't as simple as all that, surely. We need infrastructure. This calls for it, right?
Here is the link: http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.as...0&nav=0RaPH6Oz
Here is the (brief) article:
Quote:
| Posted: Nov 11, 2008 04:10 PM Updated: Nov 11, 2008 05:55 PM COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A Midlands mother called us about something she says happened at a Richland County Wal-Mart. Heather Silvis says she felt bullied when Wal-Mart associates told her she could not breastfeed her baby in the store on Two Notch Road. |
My response was as follows, and I'm posting it here with just as much indignation:
Where is everyone? Why aren't we mobilizing? This doesn't sound nearly as innocent as other stories we've heard lately. For starters, FIVE employees? No way a business
can pass that off as the personal belief system of a particular employee! Also, she WASN'T EVEN BREASTFEEDING YET. Are you kidding me? I can be asked to move by sitting down with a baby on my lap? I may type in all caps on occasion, but in real life I would be so flabbergasted if this happened to me... if I'm actually breastfeeding, I find myself gearing up to deal w/ ignorant people. But if I hadn't even begun? Would I know what to say? I wouldn't be ready for it. Asking a mom to move because she is "threatening" to breastfeed... because she MIGHT breastfeed...That's not discrimination against breast-feeders-- that is discrimination against mamas with babies. She could have been sitting down to get a bottle of formula out of her bag, for goodness sakes.
But lastly, I share Nicki's outrage that THEY MOVED HER OLDER CHILD. I hope that this would bring out the all-caps in me if anything would. I hope I would cause a big scene with a little bit of yelling. This is ridiculous. No one should touch a stranger's baby, let alone start to move him or her to another location without being told to do so by the caretaker.
So, where is everyone? What is going to be done about this? Is there already a group working on this?
ETA: I'm ready to put a baby boy on each boob and nurse them at the local Wal-Mart, but it isn't as simple as all that, surely. We need infrastructure. This calls for it, right?
I think compassion is always a wonderful thing.
