Lady Parts
Breastfeeding is legal? In Public? But, but, there are breasts and feeding involved. Offensive.Ha ha on you, Fossil, Inc. I’m glad that this case went beyond your typical staged nurse-in with media coverage. I’m glad this mom threatened to sue and I’m glad she walked away with a little bit of compensation from Fossil. It does get me wondering, though, if this kind of thing will stop happening any time soon. Every time there is a publicized case like this, I tend to think, “There, now we’re done with that nonsense.” Um, rose-colored glasses anybody? In my many, many years of baring my breasts for the purpose of sustaining life or, quite frankly, to get a kid to just be quiet for a minute, I was never asked to leave anywhere and I never even endured any mean looks or comments (well, except maybe from family and/or friends and/or other people in the privacy of my own and/or their own home, but that’s to be expected. Ahem). And more than half of my breastfeeding years were spent in a very small town where that kind of thing is just not typical. It’s a little bit shocking to me that this particular case happened in a Manhattan show room. I would think a big city would be the last place a breastfeeding mother would have to endure that kind of harrassment. Small towns, excuse me, some small towns are not typically tolerant of people who do things a little bit differently. Maybe that’s the difference. A small town might have its hands full bitching at the librarian for asking if it would be a problem if she put the award-winning book And Tango Makes Three on the shelf*, so they wouldn’t have time to wig out about public breastfeeding. I wonder if there is a master list somewhere that ranks the wig-out worthiness of these offensive things. Maybe I was never harrassed for breastfeeding at, say, the library in my hometown because the people who would have harrassed me were too busy scouring the shelves for gay penquin porn. GASP! “There’s that Aldrich girl breastfeeding one of her toddlers right here in the library! I’m gonna give her a whatfor. Wait, let me look at the list:
1. Gays
2. Protestants
3. Breastfeeding mothers
4. Murderers”
Who knows? Maybe I was saved by that list on more than one occasion.
*Last time I was visiting family, I attended the hometown book club with my very special friend Mechelle and the librarian asked us what we thought about having that book on the shelf. It’s pretty sad that she had to ask, but it’s super extra sad that one mother (speaking for the majority there) said with a shudder, “I wouldn’t want to explain that to my 4 year old!” Irony of ironies, the book we were actually discussing at the book club was Maus. Well, I thought it was ironic anyway and I had lots of trouble restraining myself from drawing comparisons between this mom’s ideology and that of Hitler’s. It was tough, but I held back. I want it noted that I held back even after she implied that the fact that I don’t have a problem with homosexuality is because my mom is, um, more active socially** than her saintly mother. Huh? I know, it was hard for me to follow too. And it was hard for me to not stand up and say, “Oh, you did not just bring my mama into this!” and stuff. That would’ve been very Jerry Springer of me and that is where I draw the line.
**In this case I’m using the phrase “active socially” with a wink and a nudge. I’m not talking about volunteerism and stuff like that. Just wanted to clear that up.
ETA: If this story leaves you with an overwhelming urge to donate a copy of And Tango Makes Three to this library, do not hesitate to contact me and I will get you the info. I’m donating a copy with a bookplate inside that says “In honor of God and The Holy Spirit who, with the help of their surrogate, Mary, were able to become fathers to their beloved baby Jesus. Amen.”
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:21 am
LOL!! My favorite part is where you said, “…and stuff.” I was cracking up! OMG you are quite the comedian. Hey, how the heck are ya? Well, when you get your undergarments out of the bunch that they are in over this Fossil thing, (which I will never, ever, ever, ever, never, ever, ever buy anything from AND I MEAN IT TOO!) ya wanna hang?
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:21 am
Oh, sissy, you’re THE BEST.
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:22 am
Ok, I was going to comment, but I remembered that I’m logged in as the library. I’ll be back as myself.
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:23 am
Major kudos to you for this post. I was laughing so hard, I almost fell off my office chair. And Tango Makes Three is definitely within the collection policy of the library that you are referring to. I think that the reason the librarian posed the question is that another small town library she knew of was having problems with the book. Luckily for the library you’re referring to, they have policies and procedures in place if someone requests that a book be removed from the shelves. I think the librarian was as surprised as you about the comments she heard. Librarians tend to be pretty open-minded, and sometimes they forget that others aren’t. Too bad that you moved away from your small town…I think you’d be fun!
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:23 am
LOL! That particular librarian from that particular library rocks particularly hard.
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:24 am
As a Gay Protestant (in name, not practice-that’s the Protestant part, not the Gay part) I am happy to take a few hits to keep you at number 3 on the “whatfor” list.
It’s the least a friend can do for someone like you.
Perhaps we should stage a sit-in at the library the next time we are home…I’ll do a reading of the penguin book with a severe lisp while you breastfeed.
It should make front page news in the Tri-County Citizen.
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:24 am
Thought you might be interested in this little article… http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070828/ap_en_ot/banned_books