I really sympathize with women who try to return to the workforce as soon as possible and obviously I benefited greatly from my mother breastfeeding me for significantly longer than most of my peers (thanks for the supercharged immune system!), but I recently felt very uncomfortable when in a classroom when a teacher openly breastfed in front of several other students. Honestly, I thought it was pretty inappropriate and I, along with others in my class, are considering complaining to the dean. I don't want the teacher to get fired or anything, but I do think she should be reprimanded a bit for her behavior and lack of consideration for others.
However, before speaking with the dean, I thought I would do a little research first and see what others thought to get a fresh perspective. Should she have been more careful in selecting her locale of breastfreeding? How do other new mothers navigate this breastfeeding predicament?
So you are grateful that you've been breasfed and you have a great immune system?
Then next time you see that teacher congratulate her or give her a thumbs up. Or at worst, mind your own business and keep your mouth shut.
You are the reason some people give up breastfeeding. Let that baby have his/her mama milk.
HTH!
How am I the reason? Gosh, no need for the hostility here. I'm just asking questions! I haven't spoken with her or the dean yet, which is why I cam here first. You're blaming me and making me out to be this horrible person when you don't even know all the facts.
To process this I think it would be helpful for you to ask yourself if you would have been similarly uncomfortable if this mother was feeding her child a baby bottle. If the answer is "no" I would seriously reconsider the origins of your opinion.
You are kidding, right? And just so you know, your teacher *very likely * has her right to breastfeed in a classroom protected by law. So your discomfort doesn't matter, that's your issue.
Why doesn't my discomfort matter? It makes me uncomfortable and I'm at school to learn, not to watch a teacher breastfeed her child. It's distracting and I found it inappropriate. SEveral of my classmates obviously agreed.
This seems like the author might be joking. No kidding you shouldn't breastfeed in traffic! Because it's dangerous, you might get run over, and you don't want other drivers to see your breasts like that in public when you're in the middle of the road.
If it's appropriate for the baby to be in the classroom, it's appropriate for the baby to be fed in the classroom. The university probably has a policy on children in class. It probably covers ideas like safety, and the children being non-disruptive.
Its been my experience that the occasional ability to bring children to class is helpful to many people. I wouldn't rock that particular boat.
Your discomfort doesn't matter because this is a child's nutrition at stake. This isn't NOLA style Mardi Gras bead grabbing she's feeding a baby! Being extremely disturbed by breastfeeding is a sign of immaturity very similar to children giggling in health class because someone said the S.E.X. word. This is college is it not? Maybe something has changed since I've been in college but I'm pretty sure most college students either have breasts or have seen them. It's not a big deal. If you wouldn't be disturbed by her giving the baby a bottle then you shouldn't be disturbed by her breastfeeding.
Woah, no need for the hostility. I have seen breasts, but it's different to see them in a private setting and in a public setting. The difference is that in a classroom, teaching should be the number one priority, and the child has a lot of other ways to get the necessary nutrition it needs. It seems more like the teacher is making a statement about breastfeeding at our expense. I think that behavior is wrong.
Again, I am not extremely disturbed by the thought of breastfeeding. I was just extremely disturbed to see a teacher to blatantly do it in front of all of us, as I had never seen something like that before.
A mother should nurse her baby where ever she is when the baby gets hungry. A breastfeeding mother should nurse her baby anywhere just like a formula feeding mother gives a bottle anywhere. I have nursed three children and I nursed them anytime and place they needed to eat including McDonald's, walking through Walmart or grocery stores, parks, doctor's offices and anywhere else we went.
Did you consider the reaction of others when you made that decision? For example, what if there were young kids around who saw you doing that? It just seems like you have a choice when and where to breastfeed, and doing it in public might be a little off-putting or inappropriate, especially to some groups of people or cultures or religions.
Hashtag, I think you came to the wrong place if you were looking for support for your cause. Breastfeeding mothers are very passionate about there right to do so and I don't think you'll be changing any minds here. If you feel so strongly about this impeding upon your education than by all means bring it up.
I'm not familiar with any state but my own, but here indecent exposure doesn't apply to a Mom feeding her child. It breaks down to "Mom can breastfeed anywhere she has the right to be". Your prof. might run up against school policy but in the U.S. she is surely within her legal rights.
I'm assuming she's nursing in class because the alternative would be a screaming baby at her lecture, surely a bigger distraction. "Just give a bottle" can be much harder than it seems; not all women can pump milk easily. Is it a young infant? It's easier to time feedings for Mom's breaks with older babies, not so much for newborns.
I'm assuming it's a lecture class, not a lab with one on one instruction? If so, just keep your eyes on your notes or on the presentation, just as you would in any public place when there's something you'd rather not see.
I'm not familiar with any state but my own, but here indecent exposure doesn't apply to a Mom feeding her child. It breaks down to "Mom can breastfeed anywhere she has the right to be". Your prof. might run up against school policy but in the U.S. she is surely within her legal rights.
I'm assuming she's nursing in class because the alternative would be a screaming baby at her lecture, surely a bigger distraction. "Just give a bottle" can be much harder than it seems; not all women can pump milk easily. Is it a young infant? It's easier to time feedings for Mom's breaks with older babies, not so much for newborns.
I'm assuming it's a lecture class, not a lab with one on one instruction? If so, just keep your eyes on your notes or on the presentation, just as you would in any public place when there's something you'd rather not see.
I'm not familiar with the age of her baby because it doesn't have tree rings or any identifiable aging information, and the professor has never brought her to class before. I would assume the baby is very, very young though because it seems small.
Yes, it's a lecture class, but I can't keep my eyes on my notes because she writes things on the board, points at stuff, and generally gesticulates extensively while she talks. Only I had trouble paying attention because of the breastfeeding.
Also, I disagree with it being a screaming baby vs. not screaming baby. The alternative would've been to bring a bottle, or even better, leave the baby at home. I don't think she did that because she has a reputation for being a feminist professor and was trying to make a political point.
Respectfully, I don't think we're completely on the same side, HashtagBB. I think women should breastfeed at their convenience and I did so myself for many years.
I think the child in the classroom is a separate issue. I would not be pleased with a bottlefed baby in a college classroom either.
Some food for thought for everyone here telling me to just "suck it up": Maybe the professor, who is paid to do her job to teach, not to breastfeed, could should be the one who should suck it up. Or maybe the baby should just suck it up and wait a couple hours. I'm pretty sure no one has ever died from not being able to have a little milk for like 2 hours.
I really don't understand all the vitriol directed towards me. I guess I have a more conservative perspective than most on here, but I'm not alone in my view that the professor behaved inappropriately. There were lots of girls in my class that agreed with me. I am surprised that so many on this forum are so dismissive and resort to saying I'm immature, which I'm not, instead of addressing what I have to say.
I have one more thing to say & then I'm leaving this conversation. I know in my state, state employees are allowed to bring their babies to work with them for the first year if they are breastfeeding. Many other states do the same as long as the job is safe for an infant. If you attend a state school perhaps this is the case.
You are talking about two issues here -- one is whether or not a professor can/should bring her child with her to work. I suspect that A LOT of people here would probably agree with you that this is unprofessional (not me, but others for sure).
But by your own admission, the primary issue is the breast. And that's an entirely different thing to discuss and it's, in fact, a very interesting legal issue for you and your classmates to explore.
A third issue is the motives you are attributing to your professor, which are off-putting.
As to why your fellow students may feel the same as you -- a lot of people (A LOT!) do not think that women should breastfeed in public. So many. Really! This is not an unusual opinion but it's not one that a lot of people here at this website support. Another reason I suspect some of your classmates agree with you is because a lack of experience. A smaller percentage of college aged students have children. People who don't have kids tend to lack experience with choices about infant feeding and breastfeeding and the sorts of attitudes and policies that support (and undermine!) breastfeeding.
If you go to the dean, do your teacher a favor and tell her that it's not that she had the kid in class or was feeding the kid in class but that you think she is playing the feminist card and attention seeking by breastfeeding.
You are talking about two issues here -- one is whether or not a professor can/should bring her child with her to work. I suspect that A LOT of people here would probably agree with you that this is unprofessional (not me, but others for sure).
But by your own admission, the primary issue is the breast. And that's an entirely different thing to discuss and it's, in fact, a very interesting legal issue for you and your classmates to explore.
A third issue is the motives you are attributing to your professor, which are off-putting.
As to why your fellow students may feel the same as you -- a lot of people (A LOT!) do not think that women should breastfeed in public. So many. Really! This is not an unusual opinion but it's not one that a lot of people here at this website support. Another reason I suspect some of your classmates agree with you is because a lack of experience. A smaller percentage of college aged students have children. People who don't have kids tend to lack experience with choices about infant feeding and breastfeeding and the sorts of attitudes and policies that support (and undermine!) breastfeeding.
If you go to the dean, do your teacher a favor and tell her that it's not that she had the kid in class or was feeding the kid in class but that you think she is playing the feminist card and attention seeking by breastfeeding.
I'm not sure I follow everything you're saying. So to the first issue, the professor should not be allowed to bring her baby to class because it is distracting? That's a part of what I've been trying to say.
To the second point, yes, I do find being forced to see my teacher's breast discomforting. Fortunately I'm not a minor, but I would think that the freshmen in my class could have a case of sexual harassment here because breasts are sexual body parts. It doesn't seem appropriate so subject young, malleable minds to them when the purpose of students is to learn and they did not consent to such behavior.
To the third point, I am not only attributing motives to her. She is a pretty well-known feminist in my school, and while I don't want to out identifying information about her, she does frequently engage in feminist discourse and feminist publications. I honestly believe she is trying to push the "breast-feeding frontier" here, if you will. I personally find that behavior off-putting because I think I and my colleagues are being used as tools for a political point, which is unacceptable in a university setting.
I don't think I need experience with children to come to this more sophisticated worldview that some of you people seem to share. I just had a more conservative upbringing, and I know for a fact that my mother would never have even dreamed of breastfeeding me outside the four walls of our humble abode.
I really don't understand your last point about the dean. You said my characterization was off-putting, and now you're saying I should tell the dean that my teacher was being an attention-seeking feminist? Well, which one is it?
Okay, let's take you seriously for a minute. You found the sight of a college instructor breastfeeding during lecture distracting and detrimental to your education. Smart, pre-law kind of guy that you are, you are here to ask what to do about it.
My answers are:
1. Work on your spelling and grammar. I cannot tell you how valuable those skills will be in your current chosen profession, and in making effective complaints to the dean.
2. Consider what your professor NOT breastfeeding in class would be like.
Perhaps your professor chose what she knew to be the surest route to keeping her baby from screaming the house down. Nearly everyone finds screaming babies distracting, and some psychologists have argued that the noise is traumatizing to bystanders. Hungry babies frequently "fuss", by which we mean, they scream.
It may also surprise you to learn that babies, even at very young ages, have preferences. Some will switch nonchalantly from breast to bottle. Some will not. I do not believe you can advance an argument that you know which kind of baby your professor has.
In addition to the probable noise, not breastfeeding in class is not a guarantee that breasts will not become visible or distracting. Crying stimulates letdown, which can be very wet.
Failing to feed an infant or pump breastmilk on a regular basis can also cause a mother pain and illness, which surely your professor, her formal employers, and the students who will one day sit bar exams would all wish to avoid.
ETA: Or take advice from Michelle and ICM and report back. That's way more fun for us.
Okay, let's take you seriously for a minute. You found the sight of a college instructor breastfeeding during lecture distracting and detrimental to your education. Smart, pre-law kind of guy that you are, you are here to ask what to do about it.
My answers are:
1. Work on your spelling and grammar. I cannot tell you how valuable those skills will be in your current chosen profession, and in making effective complaints to the dean.
2. Consider what your professor NOT breastfeeding in class would be like.
Perhaps your professor chose what she knew to be the surest route to keeping her baby from screaming the house down. Nearly everyone finds screaming babies distracting, and some psychologists have argued that the noise is traumatizing to bystanders. Hungry babies frequently "fuss", by which we mean, they scream.
It may also surprise you to learn that babies, even at very young ages, have preferences. Some will switch nonchalantly from breast to bottle. Some will not. I do not believe you can advance an argument that you know which kind of baby your professor has.
In addition to the probable noise, not breastfeeding in class is not a guarantee that breasts will not become visible or distracting. Crying stimulates letdown, which can be very wet.
Failing to feed an infant or pump breastmilk on a regular basis can also cause a mother pain and illness, which surely your professor, her formal employers, and the students who will one day sit bar exams would all wish to avoid.
I do not believe you can advance an argument that you know which kind of baby my professor has either! So how do you even know the baby prefers breast to bottle?
I'm not asking her to avert feeding altogether. I am saying she should have taken appropriate measures to avoid breastfeeding in the middle of a lecture while she was teaching.
Also, I have taken great care to make sure that my spelling and grammar thus far has been flawless. It will have zero impact on how effectively I can articulate an argument to the dean because I plan on delivering oral argument; I am not submitting an essay or a brief.
Certainly, there may have been a typo here or there because I type very quickly (130+ wpm), but I have always received rave reviews for my writing style, grammar, and syntax. It's why I'm a straight A student. Before you criticize me, maybe you want to fix these sentences:
- Hungry babies frequently "fuss", by which we mean, they scream.
- I cannot tell you how valuable those skills will be in your current chosen profession, and in making effective complaints to the dean.
I should also mention that I have spoken with my aunt, WT, who has a great deal of experience with these types of situations. She is a worldtraveler, and I would also describe her as something of a feminist, though she would never engage in the kind of behavior my professor did.
Anyway, in her extensive travels, she has been to many countries that are more conservative than ours. Such cultures frown upon open breastfeeding as they find it to be very offensive and tantamount to indecent exposure, which is what I was trying to get at earlier. So perhaps white females have much more liberal views on breastfeeding in public, but I was raised in a strict Middle Eastern household where public breastfeeding was frowned upon. You can see, then, why I might be very uncomfortable around being forced to sit through a lecture where my teacher is engaging in that type of behavior and perhaps pushing her own agenda.
Wow. Public breastfeeding is sexual harassment towards minors? Hashtag, you are now being ridiculous.
What kind of reception did you expect to get making these sorts of statements, especially on a forum like this? I suppose since, in your circles, people generally agree with you, you are shocked that not everyone feels the same way as you do about breastfeeding. Luckily for us moms, there are now laws that mostly protect us from harmful opinions like yours, or our lives and our ability to work and rear our children would be very impeded.
As for my last post, of course I was joking. What I was trying to point out was that the objections you have expressed here on this thread are very unlikely to have much traction with a university Dean. However, not all universities or states are the same, so I suppose you could try your luck. I would urge you, however, to blow it off. Don't make a hard-working woman and her newborn infant's lives more difficult--why would you want to?
I was thinking it could be sexual harassment because breasts are inherently sexual organs, so if they are exposed to minors, then that could qualify as sexual harassment.
I guess I didn't necessarily expect to get a positive reception, but I was hoping I would at least be pointed in the direction of actual state laws instead of empty drivel about how it is a fundamental right or something. Don't I also have a fundamental right to achieve as much as possible in a harassment-free environment as a student?
I don't want to make a newborn infant's life more difficult, but I would like to see the school implement some sort of policy to prevent future disasters like this. My school claims it is open to many cultures and students of many backgrounds. And, as I have said, many people other than myself took personal offense to my professor's open breastfeeding. I love my school, but what if news of this gets out and future students are discouraged from enrolling and choose other schools? I don't want this incident to have negative repercussions for myself in the short term or for future generations of students in the long term.
Frankly, I also think the classroom is an inappropriate forum for a feminist professor to advance her agenda and make a point about breastfeeding. If she feels so strongly about it, she should consider writing articles and taking interviews, not using us as pawns.
If you commonly receive positive feedback on your spelling, grammar and style, and commonly write the way you do here, your instructors have misled you. A lawyer's value is his (or her) clarity of thought and argument, not typing skill. Slow down and do it right.
I did not advance an argument that I know what kind of baby your professor has. I would, however, be quite willing to argue that your professor knows her baby, and was probably doing her best to teach class as well as possible in trying circumstances.
If you really want to make interesting waves, you could mention that the baby in class situation wasn't good for anyone, and ask what arrangements the school makes for backup childcare for employees.
There is a policy that would prevent "future disasters" like babies in class: backup childcare. Your university could invest in its employees and students by offering a high quality home- or center-based backup childcare option to employees. These programs are too expensive for individual families to implement for themselves, but they are economically feasible for large employers, like colleges and universities. If your professor had been able to call a sitter to her house, or drop her baby off at a licensed child care facility for a few hours, she probably wouldn't have been nursing a baby while cold-calling students.
My husband worked for a few years for an employer who provided a backup childcare center through Bright Horizons. It was amazing. We never had to worry about snow, or sitters getting ill, or odd little daycare holidays. There was always a safe place to bring the children, and the kids loved it.
I also know of some local services that will send sitters to homes (which is vital if a child is unwell), but the individual subscription fees are huge. They make more sense as employee benefits.
By the way, the laws you need to think about here are anti-discrimination statutes, like the ADA, and Title IX.
There is a policy that would prevent "future disasters" like babies in class: backup childcare. Your university could invest in its employees and students by offering a high quality home- or center-based backup childcare option to employees. These programs are too expensive for individual families to implement for themselves, but they are economically feasible for large employers, like colleges and universities. If your professor had been able to call a sitter to her house, or drop her baby off at a licensed child care facility for a few hours, she probably wouldn't have been nursing a baby while cold-calling students.
My husband worked for a few years for an employer who provided a backup childcare center through Bright Horizons. It was amazing. We never had to worry about snow, or sitters getting ill, or odd little daycare holidays. There was always a safe place to bring the children, and the kids loved it.
I also know of some local services that will send sitters to homes (which is vital if a child is unwell), but the individual subscription fees are huge. They make more sense as employee benefits.
By the way, the laws you need to think about here are anti-discrimination statutes, like the ADA, and Title IX.
I would be in favor of backup childcare to avert future disasters like the one I recently experienced, but I wonder how that would affect tuition? We already pay a lot for the privilege to attend school, and I certainly wouldn't want to be on the hook for having to pay even more money.
What does Title IX and the Anti-Discrimination Act have to do with all of this? I don't find it discriminatory to tell my professor that she should exercise better judgment and abstain from breastfeeding in a large lecture class.
I am also curious as to why you think my university will implement a new policy to protect her in the next few years. Are we entering a more "pro-public-breastfeeding" phase now? I find that somewhat perplexing, given that it is violative of certain cultural norms and perhaps even offensive in situations like the classroom.
Maybe it doesn't matter to you whether or not she was trying to push her feminist agenda on us and others, but it certainly matters to me. I pay tuition to attend a university where the professors conduct themselves in a professional manner and pride themselves in objectivity. She has no right to shove her twisted ideology down my throat, and I feel like I am being used so she can accomplish her goals. That's not right.
I agree with the PPs. And, speaking of multiculturalism, I don't think "breasts are sexual" is nearly as universal as you think. I know that for people (especially young people) in the US that breasts are super sexualized but that isn't the case for everywhere or for everyone. And, even if it were for a time in life it is often not the case for families with breastfeeding babies. Breasts take on a whole 'nother meaning and significance. This is where experience comes in. I know that the obvious thing here is that this professor is making a point by breastfeeding. That may be true but she may have normalized breastfeeding (like many of us do) to the point where this just doesn't seem like a big deal.
P.s. also look into American University breastfeeding professor for a similar story. You will see that your stronger case is in your teacher bringing her child to class with her in the first place. Your school may go that route, as AU did. Or they may choose to support your teacher and place the responsibility for not being so distracted by breasts on you (where I do think it belongs).
I agree with the PPs. And, speaking of multiculturalism, I don't think "breasts are sexual" is nearly as universal as you think. I know that for people (especially young people) in the US that breasts are super sexualized but that isn't the case for everywhere or for everyone. And, even if it were for a time in life it is often not the case for families with breastfeeding babies. Breasts take on a whole 'nother meaning and significance. This is where experience comes in. I know that the obvious thing here is that this professor is making a point by breastfeeding. That may be true but she may have normalized breastfeeding (like many of us do) to the point where this just doesn't seem like a big deal.
P.s. also look into American University breastfeeding professor for a similar story. You will see that your stronger case is in your teacher bringing her child to class with her in the first place. Your school may go that route, as AU did. Or they may choose to support your teacher and place the responsibility for not being so distracted by breasts on you (where I do think it belongs).
I'm a little wary of normalizing breastfeeding because it seems like a slippery slope. I mean, where do we draw the line? I think it could also lead to nudity and increased exposure of female body parts, which doesn't seem like such a great thing for society. For example, in Hollywood during the 1960s, films pushed the envelope by having characters wake up in bed together the next morning (while skipping the sex scenes), and that was a big deal at the time. But if you look at movies these days, characters have hardcore sex on film. I think breastfeeding opens the door to a similar trajectory for nudity and sexualization.
I just read the American University breastfeeding story, and it looks very similar to my case. My hope is that my school would at least go the AU route, which seems like a just outcome.
Placing the onus on me to not be "so distracted by breasts" seems to miss the point. I've just explained at great length why my teacher's breasts greatly distracted me and severely impeding my learning, and you're essentially saying, "well, don't be distracted." That's not particularly helpful.
How about this solution: Don't breastfeed in class to prove a point.
§ 79-e. Right to breast feed. Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, a mother may breast feed her baby in any location, public or
private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of
whether or not the nipple of the mother's breast is covered during or
incidental to the breast feeding.
--
§ 245.01 Exposure of a person.
A person is guilty of exposure if he appears in a public place in such
a manner that the private or intimate parts of his body are unclothed or
exposed. For purposes of this section, the private or intimate parts of
a female person shall include that portion of the breast which is below
the top of the areola. This section shall not apply to the breastfeeding
of infants or to any person entertaining or performing in a play,
exhibition, show or entertainment.
Whether you like it or not she was well within her rights. This has been through the court systems before and there are no rights you have that supersede her rights to feed her child.
Since this is a New York PUBLIC breastfeeding law, would it be applicable to a private university setting?
I hope my school has a policy that supersedes this law. And if it doesn't, maybe one should be made because I can't imagine that I'm the only one who has a problem with it.
It doesn't seem fair to value her desire to breastfeed in class, when she could easily do it somewhere else or step outside of the classroom (or reschedule the lecture), over my right to learn and receive a quality education.
You wanted advice and opinions on the issue and you got them. This is a natural family living forum that supports mothers and breastfeeding. The responses you received were the opinions of the members here. If you'd like someone to tell you your opinion was right it won't likely happen on this forum.
Now for your issue:
If the issue is the child in the classroom: Yes most would agree that there could be better ways of providing child care and tending to family needs instead of having a child in the classroom during the lecture time. * If this is your problem then the question asked should be on daycare, parents rights & obligations as employees, and labor law issues with families NOT breastfeeding.
If the issue is the child being fed in class: Not feeding the child is neglect. If there is no issue with the child being in class then there should be no issue with the child being fed.
If the issue is the breastfeeding: Too bad. If it's ok for the child to be in class and would be ok for the child to be given a bottle then there should be no issue with the mother breastfeeding.
Honestly there are a lot of things in life you'll have to deal with and be subjected to that you aren't going to like. This is a mild issue and is a good life experience for you to learn to cope with situations that you do not like. As for your choices, they may not have been great choices or choices that you liked but you DID have a choice: Stay in class and see her breastfeed OR leave class and risk the consequences of missing class. Not a great choice but that IS a choice. Unfortunately adults face choices like this on a regular basis. No one likes having to make choices like this but it is a fact of life and it's best that you figure that out sooner rather than later. When you get to the real world as an adult these choices become much more common for you.
You wanted advice and opinions on the issue and you got them. This is a natural family living forum that supports mothers and breastfeeding. The responses you received were the opinions of the members here. If you'd like someone to tell you your opinion was right it won't likely happen on this forum.
Now for your issue:
If the issue is the child in the classroom: Yes most would agree that there could be better ways of providing child care and tending to family needs instead of having a child in the classroom during the lecture time. * If this is your problem then the question asked should be on daycare, parents rights & obligations as employees, and labor law issues with families NOT breastfeeding.
If the issue is the child being fed in class: Not feeding the child is neglect. If there is no issue with the child being in class then there should be no issue with the child being fed.
If the issue is the breastfeeding: Too bad. If it's ok for the child to be in class and would be ok for the child to be given a bottle then there should be no issue with the mother breastfeeding.
Honestly there are a lot of things in life you'll have to deal with and be subjected to that you aren't going to like. This is a mild issue and is a good life experience for you to learn to cope with situations that you do not like. As for your choices, they may not have been great choices or choices that you liked but you DID have a choice: Stay in class and see her breastfeed OR leave class and risk the consequences of missing class. Not a great choice but that IS a choice. Unfortunately adults face choices like this on a regular basis. No one likes having to make choices like this but it is a fact of life and it's best that you figure that out sooner rather than later. When you get to the real world as an adult these choices become much more common for you.
Not feeding the child might be neglect, but the child could be fed before or after class. Alternatively, someone else could have fed the child. Or the professor could have stepped outside to feed the child. Or canceled class. She had plenty of options and instead chose to impose her agenda on all of us to prove a point.
I think using a bottle is a MUCH better solution because we could have avoided the discomfort of being around an exposed breast altogether. I routinely see bottles but only very rarely see breasts, and I am definitely not accustomed to seeing the breasts of middle-aged women. It makes me very uncomfortable.
Others are responding that I will grow out of this phase as I become more mature. While that might be true, you should keep in my mind that I am in a university setting, where most students fall into my age group. So they will have similar maturity levels and similar discomforts.
Finally, what you have described is basically a Sophie's choice. No college student should be forced to endure a moral dilemma of that magnitude.
People of various cultures are offended by sexual organs, not by babies, which are natural. We are accustomed to seeing babies all around us, but there is a reason we cover up breasts and blur them out on tv and black them out in magazines.
As I said, I was raised in a conservative household where humility and decency were highly desirable qualities.
I thought the Anti-Discrimination Act would be more relevant since this seems to be an issue brought to light by my professor, a noted feminist.
How are Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act relevant. Also, I'm pretty sure in law school we learn about cooler stuff like international law anyway. Not boring Title IX cases.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Mothering Forum
16.5M posts
285.1K members
Since 1996
A forum community dedicated to all mothers and inclusive family living enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about nurturing, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!