Breastfeeding Mom Kicked Out of Museum

Why are so many people afraid of boobs? Boobs, boobies, ta-tas. Especially when they are doing the actual bodily function they were meant for -- breastfeeding.


We have (yet another) story of a mom breastfeeding her baby and being told to stop. Noriko Aita was at the Hirshorn Musuem in Washington, D.C., sat down on a bench (in the basement, mind you, not smack-dab in the middle of a gallery, but the basement), and started to breastfeed her daughter.
Not one, but two security guards told her to stop, told her to go sit on a toilet to do it (I know, I hear the whoosh from the collective headshakes across America), and asked her to leave.

Of course, it is against the law what those guards did. Of course, the museum apologized to the mother and to the public. Of course, there's a "nurse-in" planned for Saturday to bring awareness to the fact that what happened was wrong.

You know what? The museum is welcoming the moms and families to do just that. I say good.
I applaud the museum for supporting this "nurse-in," not just because it's good PR, but because, really, the last thing any art lover wants to hear while trying to absorb the meaning of the masterpiece hanging on that gallery wall is the cries of a hungry baby.

I just don't get the hooplah, why this is even a debate? Sure, we shouldn't be flashing our boobs around willy-nilly, but nursing moms don't do that. A nursing mom just wants to feed her baby. Plain and simple. She doesn't want her kid to be hungry, to cry, to disturb the folks around her. Nope, she just wants to feed her kid. Every nursing mom I know tries to pick a decent spot, covers up the best she feels she can, and that's it.
People, it's a boob. It's a baby who is eating, happy and content, and not crying.

What's the bonus thorn for me and this story? The locale. A museum. A contemporary museum. Where I am sure there are elements of nudity in many of the pieces of art. So, I am not sure why the guards in this particular place had such a problem. Look around. There are naked boobies (and bums) all over the place.

And there will be more there on Saturday.

Would you join the "nurse-in"?