Don’t be mad but I have a hard time with it. It makes me uncomfortable and it especially makes my husband uncomfortable. I don’t think my husband should have to feel like that around other women. But I don’t necessarily think it’s wrong and I haven’t had a baby yet so I don’t know how I’ll be once I do.
As a guy, it would make me uncomfortable to be next to a women who was breastfeeding without covering herself. However, I don’t have a problem with women breastfeeding IF she has the decency to cover herself. By covering herself, she would keep males (like myself) from stumbling when it comes to purity. That’s my two cents on the issue.
I think that the reason people are uncomfortable with it is because our society has a very perverted sense of what is normal. People view breastfeeding as the secondary reason for breasts, which is wrong. That is why women have them, and what God designed them for. And to tell God that his design is indecent and wrong I believe is stupid. I think that if you feel uncomfortable with it then you need to think about why you’re uncomfortable. Society has perverted God’s design for women as mothers. The idea that a mother needs to be secretive or only feed her baby out of a bottle is misinformed, naive, and unrealistic….if you went to most contries in africa or any other country where people aren’t so “westernized” then you would realize that most people don’t live like us. most people understand that breats were designed for a reason(and it’s not for bikinis)- a reason i think is pretty obvious considering milk comes in when you are pregnant and you have no control over it. why?–well, i think God is trying to tell you something. but maybe people just can’t see it through all the advertising and other ways satan destroys the beautiful things God created. And to mention the guys/purity argument. well, i think that’s not a valid argument unless you avoid most tv/ magazines or contact with just about any media because they promote this messed up view of sex and if you’re exposing yourself to that then you should really fix that first. without the influence of media in our society, i don’t think there would be issues with breastfeeding. if you get turned on by a breast with a baby attached to it like God designed then you have a problem that goes beyond breastfeeding.
Its true, our society is screwed up and it does have a perverted sense of a lot of things. I know that in other places like Africa things are different and probably a lot better in that sense, even though they are not as “wealthy and privileged” as Americans. The thing is, we don’t live in Africa, so of course our reaction isn’t going to be the same. In some of those countries people walk around mostly naked–do you think that would be acceptable here, because God created us naked and we never clothed ourselves until we had sinned? I for one am not a fan of nudist colonies, as “natural” as they are. You just have to consider your surroundings and how things are, and in our society the screwed up media has a huge influence. But even way back when, before media was big in our country and people WERE modest and before baby formula had really gotten popular, I still think that people covered up when they breastfed. I am a HUGE supporter of breastfeeding, I believe it is the best way and most beneficial way to feed your baby because that is how God designed it. There are nutrients and antibodies that babies get from breast milk that they don’t get from formula. I don’t think that if you choose to feed your baby with formula that it is wrong either, its just what some people have to do (though some choose to and its their choice). Anyway, I think the big issue is just that mothers who breast feed cover themselves with a little blanket or something. I have breasts and I love babies and I certainly don’t get turned on when I see a breast of any kind (thank God!) but I do prefer that a mother who is breastfeeding her baby at least just try to cover up. Maybe I’ll change my mind when I do have a baby, and it might be different if I lived in Africa, but with the way our society is, I don’t want to expose myself to everyone around me in public.
Once the baby is latched on there is hardly any breast actually exposed…much less, then a girl you might see with a low cut shirt and definitely less than a girl with nothing but a bikini on…but would you go up to that girl and say “could you please put a shirt on.” Not usually, because that is acceptable in our society, but a woman breastfeeding is not.
And although I definitely agree that we are not in another country and therefore our actions must be modified to be acceptable…I don’t equate breastfeeding to peeing in public or being completely naked. I see it more like something that should be right and it doesn’t matter where i live. A christian in China should not have to be communist just because he lives in china, nor should a mother not be allowed to feed her child just because she lives in america. Where we are, free. And there are laws in the US that protect a mother’s right to breastfeed because it is that important.
I don’t really equate it to being totally naked either, I was just trying to say that some things are more acceptable other places, and it ended up being a crappy example. I REALLY don’t like the peeing example either. Anyway, I totally agree with you. Its just the fact that things here are so screwed up. I would much rather see a woman breastfeeding than one with a really low cut shirt on, the two don’t even compare, and I would never walk up to either and tell them to cover up, though sometimes I would like to tell that to scantily clad women. Anyway, the point is that America sucks!
Um…..you’ve never tried to breastfeed a baby under a little blanket have you? For one, it’s hot under there, even in the dead of winter. I wouldn’t enjoy eating under a blanket, and my child doesn’t enjoy it either. For two…..once the baby gets past about 2 months old it’s impossible to keep the blanket on if the baby doesn’t feel like keeping it there.
Somewhat minor point. We didn’t clothe ourselves after sin. God did. (Genesis 3:21) The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Different discussion.
And I agree with the comments about exposure. If a baby is hungry, about all you are going to see is the back of his/her head. That and watch the baby try to put their toes up momma’s nose.
Most babies don’t like to have their faces covered…they want to be able to look at Mama’s face while they are eating. I nursed three children, who are now 19, 15 and 12, and I nursed them in a variety of places–museums, malls, airplanes, churches, hospitals, movie theaters, libraries, restaurants, etc. I never used a blanket, but most of the time people had no clue I was nursing. I remember one day I was at the home of a friend for the entire day, with my now 15 yr old. She was about 6 months old at the time, and at one point my friend’s DH, who was sitting next to me on the sofa, asked why I hadn’t fed dd all day and if she was sick. I said “I’ve fed her several times today…as a matter of fact, she’s eating right now.” He looked perplexed for a few seconds, and then he said “Oh! I thought she was just sleeping!” and laughed. IMO, people need to be more educated about women and NIP instead of just presuming that it is necessary to “whip it out” as I have heard some opponents put it.
I have to laugh when I read comments that equate covering up with being modest. Most people don’t even know I’m breastfeeding when I am–though they sure would know what I was doing if I had a big blanket thrown over me. And I’m breastfeeding twins LOL Maybe I should just take a little pup tent with me everywhere we go and excuse myself while I set it up every time they need to nurse because I’d have to put a blanket over my own head when I’m nursing. HA! I guess I just don’t understand why people think that they have a *right* in America to never feel uncomfortable or the right to persecute those who are doing something with which they feel uncomfortable. Prayer makes some people feel uncomfortable, so does quoting Scripture, so does having lots of children, so does lots of things *shrug* Deal with it. That’s called taking personal responsibility and there are concepts such as self censoring, or “looking away”, when we see something we don’t want to see. No one has a right to never feel uncomfortable and I don’t have a responsibility to not do something that might cause someone to feel uncomfortable. A man feeling uncomfortable isn’t stumbling, though I’m also not responsible if someone *stumbles* because I bfip. Frankly, if a man is aroused sexually because I’m feeding my baby they have bigger issues than I’m qualified to help them with and they need to get some professional help.
mamafish | 09-Jun-05 at 1:48 pm | Permalink
oh please, rant away – that is beyond foolishness.
sturtle | 10-Jun-05 at 9:29 am | Permalink
Don’t be mad but I have a hard time with it. It makes me uncomfortable and it especially makes my husband uncomfortable. I don’t think my husband should have to feel like that around other women. But I don’t necessarily think it’s wrong and I haven’t had a baby yet so I don’t know how I’ll be once I do.
tyler_wood | 10-Jun-05 at 12:09 pm | Permalink
As a guy, it would make me uncomfortable to be next to a women who was breastfeeding without covering herself. However, I don’t have a problem with women breastfeeding IF she has the decency to cover herself. By covering herself, she would keep males (like myself) from stumbling when it comes to purity. That’s my two cents on the issue.
timwylie | 10-Jun-05 at 12:51 pm | Permalink
I think that the reason people are uncomfortable with it is because our society has a very perverted sense of what is normal. People view breastfeeding as the secondary reason for breasts, which is wrong. That is why women have them, and what God designed them for. And to tell God that his design is indecent and wrong I believe is stupid. I think that if you feel uncomfortable with it then you need to think about why you’re uncomfortable. Society has perverted God’s design for women as mothers. The idea that a mother needs to be secretive or only feed her baby out of a bottle is misinformed, naive, and unrealistic….if you went to most contries in africa or any other country where people aren’t so “westernized” then you would realize that most people don’t live like us. most people understand that breats were designed for a reason(and it’s not for bikinis)- a reason i think is pretty obvious considering milk comes in when you are pregnant and you have no control over it. why?–well, i think God is trying to tell you something. but maybe people just can’t see it through all the advertising and other ways satan destroys the beautiful things God created.
And to mention the guys/purity argument. well, i think that’s not a valid argument unless you avoid most tv/ magazines or contact with just about any media because they promote this messed up view of sex and if you’re exposing yourself to that then you should really fix that first. without the influence of media in our society, i don’t think there would be issues with breastfeeding. if you get turned on by a breast with a baby attached to it like God designed then you have a problem that goes beyond breastfeeding.
MissKukta7 | 10-Jun-05 at 1:26 pm | Permalink
Its true, our society is screwed up and it does have a perverted sense of a lot of things. I know that in other places like Africa things are different and probably a lot better in that sense, even though they are not as “wealthy and privileged” as Americans. The thing is, we don’t live in Africa, so of course our reaction isn’t going to be the same. In some of those countries people walk around mostly naked–do you think that would be acceptable here, because God created us naked and we never clothed ourselves until we had sinned? I for one am not a fan of nudist colonies, as “natural” as they are. You just have to consider your surroundings and how things are, and in our society the screwed up media has a huge influence. But even way back when, before media was big in our country and people WERE modest and before baby formula had really gotten popular, I still think that people covered up when they breastfed. I am a HUGE supporter of breastfeeding, I believe it is the best way and most beneficial way to feed your baby because that is how God designed it. There are nutrients and antibodies that babies get from breast milk that they don’t get from formula. I don’t think that if you choose to feed your baby with formula that it is wrong either, its just what some people have to do (though some choose to and its their choice). Anyway, I think the big issue is just that mothers who breast feed cover themselves with a little blanket or something. I have breasts and I love babies and I certainly don’t get turned on when I see a breast of any kind (thank God!) but I do prefer that a mother who is breastfeeding her baby at least just try to cover up. Maybe I’ll change my mind when I do have a baby, and it might be different if I lived in Africa, but with the way our society is, I don’t want to expose myself to everyone around me in public.
timwylie | 10-Jun-05 at 2:02 pm | Permalink
Once the baby is latched on there is hardly any breast actually exposed…much less, then a girl you might see with a low cut shirt and definitely less than a girl with nothing but a bikini on…but would you go up to that girl and say “could you please put a shirt on.” Not usually, because that is acceptable in our society, but a woman breastfeeding is not.
And although I definitely agree that we are not in another country and therefore our actions must be modified to be acceptable…I don’t equate breastfeeding to peeing in public or being completely naked. I see it more like something that should be right and it doesn’t matter where i live. A christian in China should not have to be communist just because he lives in china, nor should a mother not be allowed to feed her child just because she lives in america. Where we are, free. And there are laws in the US that protect a mother’s right to breastfeed because it is that important.
MissKukta7 | 10-Jun-05 at 2:38 pm | Permalink
I don’t really equate it to being totally naked either, I was just trying to say that some things are more acceptable other places, and it ended up being a crappy example. I REALLY don’t like the peeing example either. Anyway, I totally agree with you. Its just the fact that things here are so screwed up. I would much rather see a woman breastfeeding than one with a really low cut shirt on, the two don’t even compare, and I would never walk up to either and tell them to cover up, though sometimes I would like to tell that to scantily clad women. Anyway, the point is that America sucks!
wingsofdawn | 10-Jun-05 at 2:48 pm | Permalink
Hear hear!
timwylie | 10-Jun-05 at 2:52 pm | Permalink
ha. i laugh.
cheezwizlizbiz | 10-Jun-05 at 6:46 pm | Permalink
Um…..you’ve never tried to breastfeed a baby under a little blanket have you? For one, it’s hot under there, even in the dead of winter. I wouldn’t enjoy eating under a blanket, and my child doesn’t enjoy it either. For two…..once the baby gets past about 2 months old it’s impossible to keep the blanket on if the baby doesn’t feel like keeping it there.
mccaulg | 10-Jun-05 at 7:58 pm | Permalink
Somewhat minor point. We didn’t clothe ourselves after sin. God did. (Genesis 3:21) The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Different discussion.
And I agree with the comments about exposure. If a baby is hungry, about all you are going to see is the back of his/her head. That and watch the baby try to put their toes up momma’s nose.
gsm
MissKukta7 | 10-Jun-05 at 8:24 pm | Permalink
I was referring to Genesis 3:7, when “..they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
wingsofdawn | 11-Jun-05 at 3:02 am | Permalink
Hey now, let’s not get in to a bible fight here.
Thanks all for your input.
Poetmom | 11-Jun-05 at 6:06 pm | Permalink
Most babies don’t like to have their faces covered…they want to be able to look at Mama’s face while they are eating. I nursed three children, who are now 19, 15 and 12, and I nursed them in a variety of places–museums, malls, airplanes, churches, hospitals, movie theaters, libraries, restaurants, etc. I never used a blanket, but most of the time people had no clue I was nursing. I remember one day I was at the home of a friend for the entire day, with my now 15 yr old. She was about 6 months old at the time, and at one point my friend’s DH, who was sitting next to me on the sofa, asked why I hadn’t fed dd all day and if she was sick. I said “I’ve fed her several times today…as a matter of fact, she’s eating right now.” He looked perplexed for a few seconds, and then he said “Oh! I thought she was just sleeping!” and laughed. IMO, people need to be more educated about women and NIP instead of just presuming that it is necessary to “whip it out” as I have heard some opponents put it.
Mama_Domain | 12-Jun-05 at 7:09 pm | Permalink
I have to laugh when I read comments that equate covering up with being modest. Most people don’t even know I’m breastfeeding when I am–though they sure would know what I was doing if I had a big blanket thrown over me. And I’m breastfeeding twins LOL Maybe I should just take a little pup tent with me everywhere we go and excuse myself while I set it up every time they need to nurse because I’d have to put a blanket over my own head when I’m nursing. HA! I guess I just don’t understand why people think that they have a *right* in America to never feel uncomfortable or the right to persecute those who are doing something with which they feel uncomfortable. Prayer makes some people feel uncomfortable, so does quoting Scripture, so does having lots of children, so does lots of things *shrug* Deal with it. That’s called taking personal responsibility and there are concepts such as self censoring, or “looking away”, when we see something we don’t want to see. No one has a right to never feel uncomfortable and I don’t have a responsibility to not do something that might cause someone to feel uncomfortable. A man feeling uncomfortable isn’t stumbling, though I’m also not responsible if someone *stumbles* because I bfip. Frankly, if a man is aroused sexually because I’m feeding my baby they have bigger issues than I’m qualified to help them with and they need to get some professional help.