I frequently nurse in public and, until today, got nothing but positive acknowledgments from bystanders. I took my daughter to the zoo today and headed straight for our favorite habitat where an orangutan and her two-year-old baby live. Daughter and I were watching baby monkey around when dd got thirsty (in the high-humidity 90-degree heat). I stood there in front of the glass and nursed her (revealing nothing but a tiny bit of tummy). Mama orangutan noticed and came over, stood in front of us against the glass, and looked from me, down to dd and back again for the longest time! Eventually she went over and got her own baby out of tree where she'd been playing and carried her over in front of us. (We were two proud nursing mamas!) Anyway, a teenage girl behind me was "totally grossed out," and said, "isn't there some kind of law against showing your breasts to animals? That's disgusting!"
It's troubling that even in this millennium, teenage girls (and boys) are being bred to regard breasts as nothing more than toys to be dressed, tweaked, and displayed in only artificial ways.
Originally Posted by Quirky
I'm sorry that teenager was such a twit, but what a cool story about the orangutan!
idiotic teenager aside, very cool story! You should submit it to the people who work there (and actually understand apes, humans, biology, science, etc...)
OH MY GOSH!!! I did that at our zoo too!!!!!!! It was a mother chimpanzee who got her baby and was nursing right along with me. I was the only one in the habitat at the time. I was just so stunned when she did that. I went in to have a quiet place to nurse with my baby and she sat there and watched me for the longest time...then she went and got her baby and sat right next to the glass where I was sitting and nursed her baby too. I had the stroller with me and she kept trying to peek in the stroller to see. She just kept looking at my baby and watching her.
I love primates, they are SO intellegent and smart.
same thing happened with a momma Gorilla and I at the Toledo Zoo when Maia was about 9 months. She watched and watched me then went and got her baby came right in front of me ( i was sitting sideways on a ledge in front of the glass) she banged on the glass to make me look (i was watching her but not directly staring) she patted herself and thenn her baby as if to say "this is MY baby" then she sat right next to me on the otherside of the glass and nursed her babe until I was done nursing Maia. It was such a cool primal connection
Wow. That is so sweet (Not the teen) about the other nursing moms hanging out with you human moms! That is SO cool!!!!!!
Did anyone read So That's What They're For (Tamaro) where there was a primate at a zoo who didn't know how to bf her baby, so they got human moms to nurse in front of her day after day to help her figure out how it was done?
That's cool. I'm gonna try it at Busch Gardens! :LOL Teenagers are so stupid sometimes. Yea. The animals were totally offended I'm sure. Or maybe turned on - that's probably why she showed you her breasts while feeding her baby.
Oh wow that is incredibly sweet and beautiful!!!
I want to nurse my dd too at the primate house!
You ladies must have felt some sort of interaction was happening there!?
between the chimp mamas and yourseves---?
Thanks for sharing those stories
Originally Posted by applejuice
I feel bad for that teenager.
Obviously the monkeys are smarter than that teenage girl.
no doubt about that!
These are amazing stories!! I wanna go to the zoo now! Ive never sat beside another nursing Mamma, I would feel absolutly honored if another Mamma (human or not) sat beside me to feed her baby!
Amazing and cool incidents, indeed. Perhaps some sort of feminine / mama bond exists among the specis which we might not have noticed - a matter of feeling proud of momma status. Please don't mind, Mandamama, I am inclined to suggest why not do a repeat to see whether the orangutan 'lady' follows suit! I wish I had an opportunity to do it. Sometimes I have seen at secluded public spots in my country, like an unfrequented spot in a park or a corner in a market place, where a nursing mom or two are joined by other nursing mom (s) to comfort their babies. Often stranger moms strike a conversation with each other (beginning 'how old is your baby' or 'what is her / his name' etc.) while bf'ing their babies. I wonder whether some such feeling of togetherness also exists inter-species.
Uzra
Then there's that silly human teenager- I was one once, though I never made such an inappropriate and thoughtless comment to any adult because I wanted adults to respect me too. However, alot of teens tend to speak unwisely off the cuff- they haven't learned not to say the first thing that pops into their minds (heck, some adults still haven't learned that self-control). Resisting such thoughtlessness requires a bit more maturity and experience than this young person could muster apparently, in that moment.
...But then, I imagine that adolescent urangatans, chimps and gorillas can sometimes be half-baked and impulsive too.
Lots to think about and appreciate from this experience.
i'm just going to pretend the last part of that story didn't happen and spread the totally awesome, incredily cute part about the nursing mamas who crossed "cultural" boundaries to bond!
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