August 17th, 2009
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August 17th, 2009 at 1:18 am
I agree! I have seen this as well and appericate it when a nursing mother ‘covers up’ I have even MADE such cover-ups (crocheting) but when they don’t.. grr! I am not allowed to have my boobs out (and they have tatoos even so there is something more to see
) why should they?!?!?!
August 17th, 2009 at 9:12 am
It just seems rediculous when people do stupid things like that. Honestly, I don’t even dress very showy at all, I doubt my boobs have ever shown an ounce of cleavage in public, let alone have any to show. But I mean, when women go as far as to show off the act of their baby suckling their teat, in public, in a RESTAURANT of ALL places, it’s just too much. And it’s not just the, sometimes disturbing, images that get you, it’s the sound of a baby sucking on human flesh that gets me.
I mean, yeah sure, I believe that people have rights and all that, and sure women should have a right to breastfeed in public…but with something covering up their spawnling at least. Honestly, if I’m not allowed to run around naked, why is she able to, because she has a baby? What’s next, you can’t go out killing innocent people, but if you have a child with you, it’s all ok! You can’t go around stealing stuff, but if a child is with you, no worries!
Seriously ladies, have some decency, at least don’t flaunt yourself around. I’m sure there are PLENTY of pervs who would get off to seeing you do that, but I’m not one of them, and I HIGHLY DOUBT people will come out about those kinds of things openly…
August 17th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Yep. Really, I don’t needa see that. They even make these nifty nursing covers for mothers… Super nifty for my eyes too.
(I have six siblings, all of them breastfed, and thankfully my mom felt that her business is exactly that, her business. Decency, please.)
August 17th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Careful, Bree. I can hear the triple-dog-dares from here.
August 17th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Oh you silly Americans and your Puritan roots =). This begs the question of what exactly is so indecent about a woman’s breasts, after all people spend a lot of time and effort trying to show them off nicely…or is it that breast feeding is a non-sexual use of them and therefore aggravating to everyone who only see breasts as sexual because it’s ruining the image?
August 17th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Oh, I don’t think it’s about puritanism. I just like the idea of a bit of class when people eat. Taking a shit is a natural, non sexual function of the ass, but I’d rather someone not do it at the next table over
August 17th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
kusandha, you could say the same for open view public urinals in restaurants…
August 17th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Bree, I was going to go with the shit angle but I thought there’d be less health issues with piss!
August 17th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Hehe, I also wish people would chew with their mouths closed, but I am told I am a bit nuts.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
See, the difference here is that you are equating someone eating (which is what breast feeding is) with urination and defecation. If you consider those to be of the same level then yes, you can argue that you should be able to do them all in public =).
And it is puritanical in my opinion to say that breasts are indecent as some have said. Anyway, if guys with boobs can go without shirt, I say women should be able to as well =D.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
well they could eat the shit, too, and I still think people might not wanna see it.
You just wanna see breasts everywhere, don’t ya Kus?
August 17th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Not really, there are many boobs out there that aren’t….aesthetically pleasing…to me =).
August 17th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Well, the blue veiny ones are the worst!
August 17th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Kusanha, couldn’t you then argue that eating with your mouth open should be perfectly acceptable in society. Of course there is no LAW stating that you MUST chew your food with your mouth closed, but if you do it, people tend to look at you funny, and people tend to ask you to stop doing that.
Just a thought…
August 17th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
What I don’t get is how a restaurant is not something different than a public place, such as a park bench. As a guy, I’m not allowed to pull my shirt or my shoes off in a restaurant, but could usually get away with it on a park bench. I completely understand that if baby needs to eat right now, it needs to eat right now. But unlike when baby needs to be changed, Mom has some idea as to when baby will need to be fed. Timing this so as to be in a restaurant is obviously intentional antagonism, and people doing this are rebels without a cause.
August 17th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Luz – That is another silly comparison to me, chewing with your mouth open is considered bad manners and I don’t like it but for some people that is perfectly acceptable. For me a baby being breast fed is not in the same category. But that’s just me, clearly it’s not the same for everyone. I personally don’t see anything objectionable/gross/indecent/etc about breastfeeding.
I think Puff has a point though, a restaurant is not a public location and they could impose whatever rules they see fit. However, that is at their discretion. If they choose not to have such rules then…
August 18th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
kusandha, you don’t like us saying defecation is as natural as eating (can’t have one without the other) so how about public sex then? Sex is the most natural thing there is, the other acts wouldn’t exist without it. The whole biological purpose of life is to reproduce, so should that be allowed in restaurants as well?
August 18th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
In New York State, thanks to a 1992 court ruling, it’s legal for women to be topless anywhere men can be topless.
August 18th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Frankie – I didn’t say that one is less natural than the other. What I said was that I (my opinion only) don’t consider the two things to be equally acceptable to be performed in public. I also said that if people consider the two equally acceptable then you can argue for them being able to do them both in public.
Pissing or shitting in a restaurant (outside of the toilet) causes other issues (health related primarily), apart from being just unpleasant to the customers. A baby eating only causes problems if you consider the sight of a baby eating to be unpleasant and has no other ramifications to the business that they run, it’s not unhygienic.
In general the issues around breast feeding arise from people feeling it is “indecent” and not something to be done in public (and note that I don’t think this is quite what Bree is saying, though others here seem to be saying that, I think Bree just hates babies =D). This is the same reason people use for sex, shitting etc. I just don’t think breastfeeding is indecent. If you do, that’s your opinion, and to me it’s a silly opinion. But just as you are entitled to your opinion, I’m entitled to say it’s silly =). The only reason I keep replying to these comments is that people keep bringing up silly arguments, when it’s all just a matter of what US society currently considers acceptable. These opinions change, someday it may be that I’ll be eating lunch while a couple a table over gets it on. Hopefully, if that day comes, they will at least be pretty (to me) =D, cause I’m shallow like that.
August 18th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
No, Kusandha, YOU are silly! A silly silly sausage!
I just think it’s icky and makes a LOT of people uncomfy… so it would be a nice gesture for the woman in the comic to cover up her non-tassled booby.
But I may start walking around topless, keeping boys around with their mouths stuck to my tits to prove a point…
or…no
August 18th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Heh, awesome, I was wondering if this would come up =D
There are lots of things out there that are icky to you and/or me. But I don’t get to go around saying “Yo ugly, cover your face with this bag!” or “Hey fat ass, muumuu for you! Learn to love it.”
Ultimately the basic point of “it’s all a matter of opinion and general public acceptance” is still what this whole thing boils down to. And as with anything, some peoples opinion wins over others, we don’t get things the way we want them. At least I sure as hell don’t =).
And you didn’t deny that you hate the babies…
I really just wanted to say muumuu.
August 18th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
1. Don’t look.
2. “I can’t do it so why should they?” is a selfish argument.
As I see it, it’s your right to feel morally and aesthetically comfortable vs the mother’s right of taking care of an infant, and the baby’s right to being taken care of. The seconds are more basic, so they win.
(also, what kusandha said about breasts being fetishised)
August 18th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
It’s not a morality thing, I just think it’s a matter of being considerate or inconsiderate. I was raised with some restrictive ideas of propriety, and have made my own judgments over time. I just would rather women who need to feed their babies in public, to be discreet.
Plenty of mothers have told me that they agree and see no reason why someone can’t use a cover-up or go into the restroom for a few minutes.
This is an example of things that bug me that, outside of the realm of humor, I have no way of expressing. Outside of SD&JC, I can’t really tell express how irritating I find open-mouthed gum-chewing, people taking seats on the subways from pregnant women and old ladies, or people allowing their kids to do whatever they want to other people.
When I was a waitress, I couldn’t NOT look, because I would have alerted the mother to my discomfort and probably would have gotten the restaurant in trouble.
Also, it’s just one of those traps of modern society that I think some people prey upon. Maybe I have, too. “I dare you to be sick, go on, and I will stand here and cause trouble about you and your restaurant and I will put it on the news. I dare you” type thing.
Anyway, this is meant to be funny. It’s humor and I know it may offend some, but I don’t pretend to be the moral compass of the universe.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
And yes, Kus, I don’t like babies. Like poo, they are necessary to the continuation of the species, but I really am not a huge fan.
Unless they are dressed like dinosaurs…then they may be acceptable…
August 18th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Hey, that’s what comics are for, it’s all good. I have no problem with differing opinions, but I like to argue these things out a bit to see why people think the way they do.
And personally, I think the species is doing a bit too much continuing for my tastes. =D
August 18th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Yeah, Kus, I have fun tossing sand with you in this little pink sandbox. It just seemed some folks were a bit angrier than I’d like them to be—it’s bad for the heart.
And I agree the species could use some reining in. I have long been a member of VHEMT, the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. (Ask Cori)
PS- no one ever makes a peep about me making fun of Jesus freaks. Haha, they are totally fair game!
August 19th, 2009 at 3:42 am
I give you points for a clever cartoon, though I can’t bring myself to give a damn about your issue.
August 19th, 2009 at 3:42 am
Bree,
Another Jenn Armintrout fan!
August 19th, 2009 at 9:51 am
If you feel uncomfortable with a woman open air breastfeeding… Then I say bite down that discomfort and stare at her. If she asks what you’re staring at just say something to the extent of “sorry, I’m just REALLY hungry…”.
Diamonds to donuts she straps a coverup on herself PRONTO, heh heh.
August 19th, 2009 at 10:08 am
I have a question for all you that don’t want to see a baby on a breast….
Would you eat your meal under a blanket or in the bathroom? If no, then why is it ok to make a baby eat that way? If yes, then when you see a baby at the breast, maybe YOU should put a blanket over YOUR head or take your food into a bathroom stall.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
I must consult my “Dogbert’s Clues for the Clueless”; in the interests of gender equality, a male seeing such can water he nearest plant…by natural means.
Its only fair.
August 20th, 2009 at 1:53 am
>Would you eat your meal under a blanket or in the bathroom?
Um, we aren’t eating food off of another person’s body. I think that’s the major issue hear. The fact that one human being, albeit a less developed one, is “eating” OFF OF another human being. Also, there’s the idea that people are eating cooked, prepared food, that has been made to look appealing to the eyes, not fresh raw meat recently chopped off of a living cow they have in back, and just placed on a plate, with no prior preperation.
Then there’s the fact that it’s more than just visually distasteful, but also audibly distasteful. The sounds of the baby suckling, as well as the sight, and even the smell, can be pretty nauseating.
It’s not the fact that the baby is eating, seeing as how the baby could just as well be drinking formula, but rather the fact that breast feeding in a public place, especially a restaurant, is quite disturbing, and uncalled for.
August 30th, 2009 at 2:18 am
Breastfeeding is a baby consuming food. Babies /are/ really sort of gross, in general, but other people being uncomfortable with them is not a good reason to ban their very legitimate and pressing need to be fed and cared for.
Expecting women to hide in a *bathroom* to *feed someone* (ew, gross) is way more disturbing than giving people an option to avert their eyes if they’re uncomfortable with something. I mean, if we live in a world where we accept it as a given that women have a right to be normal human beings AND reproduce, breastfeeding is kind of a necessary cultural hangup we have to get over. Seriously, if you found pregnant bellies to be disgusting and gross, would you find it okay to ridicule everyone who did not conform to Victorian ideals of staying indoors when you had a gigantic protruding belly?
Long story short, your personal cultural phobias do not give you the right to dictate, or failing that, to shame, the actions and decisions of others.
August 30th, 2009 at 2:19 am
Just a lurker who thought of pointing something out while jumping on the bandwagon.
Luz: Formula doesn’t have nearly any of the antibodies and nutritional what-have-you’s that breast milk does. From what I understand, that’s why a lot of women do it.
Me, I just don’t see what the big deal is. It’s just a boob, and a baby eating. Maybe it’s just that I haven’t been around many nursing mothers.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
It’s a creepy boob. Hahaha. Is a cover-up too much to ask?
This is meant to be a lighthearted joke about something that really bugs me. I understand opinions are strong, but don’t get too twisted up over it. It’s humor
September 5th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
[...] I install my handy dandy StumpleUpon toolbar and off I go, and look what I find! By the name alone I was hoping for some cool, maybe even feminist web comic, [...]
September 6th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Breastfeeding in public is rude. I saw a woman whip out her boob on the train yesterday and I almost voms’d all over her. The baby can wait to be breastfed when they are not in restaurants or subway cars (where people are crammed together and may have accidentally even come into direct contact with the exposed boobage). Maybe this would help our growing obesity epidemic. Who’s to say.
Bree, back up your wordpress and upgrade if you haven’t already. Our site got hacked and you don’t even want to know what it takes to get that repaired.
September 6th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Now, I am a liberal and a feminist, but for cryin’ out loud, it’s just not fair to other people that you whip out your bluing, veiny flesh bags during lunch and expect everyone to just accept it as ok.
Why are you trying to claim to be “liberal” and “feminist” when it’s patently obvious you’re neither?
So, you’re phobic about seeing babies being breastfed. Go deal with your phobia in a liberal, feminist manner – make it your problem, not the problem of the mother and baby you’re having a phobic attack about.
September 6th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
I did! I made a comedic art piece about it!
September 13th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Just because you have some weird hang-up about breastfeeding does not mean the woman doing the breastfeeding, which is kind of necessary for her child to like, SURVIVE, is superior and self righteous. It just means she’s feeding her child. She’s not taking a shit so there would be no need for her to go to the bathroom and she’s not having sexual relations, so the boyfriend sucking your boob comment is kind of bizarre and irrelevant. In short what an hysterical, ridiculous, bizarro post. Get over it already.
September 24th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Oh god, grow up, little girl. Whine about breast feeding in public, then whine about getting called out for being a little brat. Also: quit mucking up StumbleUpon with your comic. That’s more an indictment on your self-described liberalism than this is.
September 24th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Thanks for the imput
September 30th, 2009 at 4:42 am
Disagree on the breastfeeding issue although a little discretion is advisable, but totally agree with the one on people chewing with their mouths open. Comic was still funny as though
October 25th, 2009 at 9:02 am
I dunno…while I myself am no fan of veiny fleshbags being drained while I eat, I don’t think it’s quite right to be “enjoying” the view of certain well-to-do lookin females while I eat, and be disruptive when such freedoms result in a view I don’t agree with. But, like Kevin Smith once (probably) said, “Lets not veer away from what’s important here; dick and fart jokes.”
January 30th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
WTF is everybody in this thread so pissed-off about?
Really, is the premise of THIS comic any more controversial than some of the others in the archives?
January 30th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
I personally get uncomfortable when I see a male/female couple making out within six feet of where I’m sitting. Granted, this may not be as natural as breastfeeding, but is my discomfort with THIS act any different than Bree’s?
March 24th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
I have to say, right up to here I was really enjoying your comic. It’s smart, funny and seemed to express a lot of the things that just pop into my head during the day
But I have to say that I do belong to the Boobs-Out Brigade that would argue that it’s actually your problem not theirs. Just to be clear, I am a student and waaaay too young to have kids (I actually find them kind of repulsive!) or even have a specific opinion on this issue, but I know that if I saw a mother breastfeeding in public I would just turn away if it made me uncomfortable. Feeding your baby isn’t the same as having your bf suck your tits in public because you are confusing the issue; breasts plus baby is not a sexual or unhygienic process! It is simply a manifestation of western culture’s prudishness and the fetishization of the breast as a sexual object alone that gives rise to these feelings of disgust. And sneaking off to feed a baby in a TOILET? If that’s not dirty I don’t know what is… So hows about a compromise? Mandatory baby-feeding area set apart in larger restaurants?? That way, all the milk-machine mothers can get together and complain about their saggy boobs together….. 
March 25th, 2010 at 12:23 am
Thanks girl.rock. We can agree to disagree, and I realize that I am crazy every time I wanna stab someone for chewing gum. I think that’s what it is. I\t’s gross, not because of fetishising, but because things like open mouthed gum chewing and baby titles sucking are both pretty gross to me. I hope you can still enjoy the comic, despite my aversion to such things.
May 21st, 2010 at 2:56 pm
http://www.phdinparenting.com/2010/05/14/50-reasons-for-breastfeeding-anytime-anywhere/