Many mothers face discrimination when breastfeeding in a public place. Learn how you can fight back to protect your partner from being shamed and what laws are on her side!
It was maybe the third or fourth time the creepy stranger looked over at our table, and now I was getting angry! This time I stared right back at him and shook my head, then rolled my eyes. I had enough of his beady little eyes and admonishing looks at my wife as she was breastfeeding.
That’s when I made an excuse to go use the restroom and walked towards this older gentleman, unsure of what I was going to say to him.
Moments before I approached this pest, my commonsense meter was buzzing and I decided to keep walking to the restroom. I knew my wife wouldn’t want me to make a scene in a crowded restaurant, and there was always the possibility I was reading the situation wrong.
That’s when he said it….
“She should be doing that at home!”
I wanted to insta-rage on this guy and dunk his head in the half-eaten bowl of clam chowder on his table. Of course, I was now a new father and needed to act appropriately.
I looked him dead in the eye and said, “I’m sorry something so natural offends you. Maybe if you stop staring at her, it will alleviate the problem!”
It felt good, I won’t lie. Maybe not as satisfying as watching him wear his bowl of clam chowder, but my point was made without me acting like an out-of-control fool.
This was the first time my wife was breastfeeding in public, and she was extremely self-conscious about it. In fact, I had to keep reassuring her that evening to feed our daughter.
Naturally, I was in no mood for some goober trying to make my wife feel guilty. Thankfully, she never noticed this nosy individual, and I was able to make my feelings known without embarrassing her.
The kicker is, my wife was fully covered up and this dude still couldn’t mind his own business. You would think my wife had been standing topless on the table doing “the deed” by his reaction.
While my wife was able to cover up, the reality is, not all mothers have this luxury when breastfeeding, as many babies refuse to feed this way!
A Mom Breastfeeding in Public is Protected in All 50 states!
Our society has no problem exploiting women’s breasts in a sexual way but use them for something natural like nurturing a baby and some people become horrified!
Makes perfect sense….
There are countless horror stories of breastfeeding mothers being confronted in malls and restaurants, shamed on flights and booted out of other public places throughout the years.
This is an idiotic stigma that your partner may have to face when she becomes a mother, because quite frankly, people are ignorant and can’t mind their business.
Who cares that babies need to feed often (8-10 times daily), women need to get home and hide those offending breasts!
So basically, some in our society expect a mother to just chill at home all day, because they can’t handle seeing a nipple.
It’s not only asinine, but also impractical.
If she is entitled to be somewhere, be it on private or federal grounds, she is protected by laws that allow her to breastfeed in public.
However, it’s important to understand that public breastfeeding is now legal everywhere in the United States, and mothers are protected by both federal and state laws.
Sadly, it took until 2018 for the last holdout states, Idaho and Utah, to finally protect breastfeeding mothers. Some of the silly arguments over the years against passing public breastfeeding laws in these states, were made by male representatives of course.
Apparently, some of these law makers felt that breastfeeding moms would feel encouraged to ”whip it out and do it anywhere” or they would have the gall to not cover up at all and it would make these men uncomfortable because “It’s really in your face.”
Imagine the horror of these poor innocent guys having to see boobies! The lifetime of mental scars!
Again, this is the kind of idiotic mindset your partner will be facing when trying to feed your child in public.
Thankfully, the rock brains keeping these laws from being passed for years, have finally been overcome.
What do public breastfeeding laws mean for your partner, exactly?
If she is entitled to be somewhere, be it on private or federal grounds, she is protected by laws that allow her to breastfeed in public.
This means restaurants, grocery stores, amusement parks, libraries, schools, public pools, parks, etc.
However, this still hasn’t prevented countless incidents of breastfeeding mothers being asked to either cover up or retreat to some private area.
This is when a mother must stand her ground and point out she is protected by the law. Better yet, this is when you need to step in and fight for her rights. Don’t let her be bullied and shamed.
As a father, this is yet another way for you to fight for your child! No one has the right to tell your partner she can’t feed your baby when she must.
Now, this doesn’t mean you start flipping tables and dribble some waiter’s head off the floor. Like I discussed earlier, I get the rage, but it won’t solve anything, and it will just give the people harassing your partner the upper hand.
Fight back with intelligence and decorum. Make it plain as day to the harassers that the law is on your partner’s side when defending her and try your best not to make a scene. Most importantly of all, don’t let your partner be intimidated into following a request to cover up or leave.
Being a dad puts you into a plethora of uncomfortable situations, but you can handle it.
You MUST handle it.
For the sake of both your partner and baby!
