Regarding Breastfeeding and iParty.

[devilgrrl]

The iParty this happened at is about 3 miles from where I live, so I feel extra compelled to comment on this. It's been all the news can talk about today and it's driving me batfrakking crazy because everyone's making it about breastfeeding. It's not!

Yes, the woman in question has every right to breastfeed her child. I support that, even if it's not my cup of tea. What she does not have the right to do is plunk her ass down in the middle of an aisle and cause a fire hazard.

If I were to plop down in the middle of an aisle, I would be asked to get up and move or be told to leave the store. The media wouldn't care that I was tossed because I shouldn't've been sitting in the middle of an aisle in the first place.

If I were the manager of that store, I would likewise have informed the woman, baby or no, breastfeeding for no, that she could not sit in the middle of an aisle. If she gave me a hard time about a safetly rule, I would have asked her to leave, much as I imagine this manager did. I would've done this doubly so if she had a baby because it's NOT SAFE to sit on the floor of a shop with an infant in your hands.

This isn't about lactivism, it's about safely, plain and simple. Could the store manager have handled things better? Maybe. Could this woman have used a whit of common sense? Definitely.

For the record, when I was working in retail in different levels of management, I've had a few women breastfeeding in the store and I've never asked one to leave. I have asked many, many people to leave for abusing safetly policies, such as climbing things, horsing around, and yes, blocking aisles up.

Comments

[littlestarletta.livejournal.com]

thats so odd... who wants to breastfeed in public let alone in an iparty! in the middle of the aisle!

[devilgrrl.livejournal.com]

There are too many creeps out there for me to really want to breastfeed in public. I hate that iParty anyway. It's way too small and cramped. I usually end up going to the IstaParty in East Weymouth.

I can't remember if I replied to your other comment, but I actually am tied up most of the morning Saturday. I'm around tomorrow night and late Saturday afternoon, around 4ish.

[littlestarletta.livejournal.com]

Saturday around 4ish is perfect for me! Want to meet at the Michael's in Braintree at 4:30?

[littlestarletta.livejournal.com]

oh and were you talking about the iParty in Quincy?

[devilgrrl.livejournal.com]

Sounds great! If you email me, I'll give you my cell phone number in case I run behind or something.

Nope, this is the teeny iParty in South Weymouth, next to the Marshalls.

[littlestarletta.livejournal.com]

is this you: somanybadgers-at- gmail.com ?

[devilgrrl.livejournal.com]

It is, but the most frequently checked one is ms.starbuck AT gmail dot com.

[wishuponakate.livejournal.com]

wow, I didn't even hear about this. How crazy! I am also pro-breastfeeding in public, because I don't think it's disgusting or offensive, but blocking an aisle is just idiotic.

[devilgrrl.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't want to sit down in an aisle with my baby for anything. There's always kids running around in there. I'd be afraid someone would trip on me and hurt the baby.

[wildpeyote.livejournal.com]

From what I understand, he did actually say "You can't do that here. It wouldn't be good for children to see you doing that..." regarding breast feeding. Even the store says that the guy was uncomfortable with the breast feeding and didn't know how to deal with it. No one's said anything about her sitting in the aisle...

Americans have sexualized the breast to the point that most of them have the knee jerk reaction to seeing breast feeding as somehow sexual or perverse. It's not like she took her shirt off.

And honestly, is the aisle so narrow that she was actually blocking it? I've sat down on floors to shop on low shelves and people were more than able to get around me with carts.. That aisle blocking argument is weak.

[devilgrrl.livejournal.com]

Our news has been reporting that she was sitting in the middle of an aisle, not walking around feeding the baby. Our Fox News had a clip of her stating that. I'll see if I can find a clip from one of the local channels.

And honestly, it's a teeny store. If someone was sitting in the aisle, you'd have to step over them. You'd be lucky if you could squeeze a wheelchair between the aisles.

[devilgrrl.livejournal.com]

"Tracy said she had responded to her 7-week-old son Tristan’s cries of hunger by sitting down in the aisle to discreetly feed him."

http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/04/24/news/news05.txt One of the less tabloidy articles.

I fully agree that the manager could have handled his phrasing better and I do support her right to breastfeed, but if she's sitting in an aisle, she's a safety hazard and if someone trips over her, they could really hurt the baby as well.