In public. Should it be done? Should it be allowed? Should there be a law protecting this supposed "rights?" O_o

I don't think it should be done in public, but I do think that larger corperations (like costco/walmart, etc) should have a better room for it to be done than the bathroom. Those restrooms are fuckin nasty, and if my kid's hungry and I want to feed them, and I'm in the middle of shopping and can't just leave the store, I wouldn't want to feed them in there. D=

I can't think of anything wrong with breastfeeding in public. Are people offended by it?

Apparently so.

I think it's the whole "hurr durr indecent exposure" argument, and those people are going to bring up that there are alternatives to just tearing open your shirt wherever you happen to be. Aside from the trenchant comment of "you've never been a parent, have you", here's what I think.

I'll give places like Costco and Wal-Mart the benefit of the doubt: As a privately owned and operated institution, it has the right to set down whatever rules they feel are necessary. However, doing it out in the open, like on a bus or in the street, presents its own problems that must be solved by the legislators of that area.

Just to quite XKCD here, because I think it's relevant: You've been shoved headfirst through your mothers vagina, why are you acting so dignified?

Why are women's breasts still considered indecent? The whole notion is silly. Half the worlds got em. It's not as if they're particularly ugly to look at, and if a man can go about shirtless then there is no good reason a woman should no be able to. The same bits are on both of them and really it's a discrimination against women not to allow that. Once you get past the bearing of breasts in public, the question of breastfeeding is moot. Let the little sucker eat. Almost everyone's had their face in much the same place on their mothers.

The main issue I have with breastfeeding in public is that it's not really helping the bonding process, and often the feedings are cut short of what they are expected. I've never really viewed it as wrong- but after taking child development classes and finding out more about children and what breast feeding does to the child and the mother, I've frowned upon public public feedings because they are not allowing for the child to get as much time to feed, have as much time spent into burping, or soothing them. It's more rushed, hurried. It's meant to be private more of the fact that it is an intimate- though not sexual, obviously- act. In public it's hard to be intimate and unhurried, and infants/young children do not understand this pressures while adults do.

I just don't see the problem. Your child's hungry, then feed it. End of story, really. You can't always find a quiet/private place to breastfeed in peace - it just doesn't always happen that way.

But wouldn't you think it could lead to a safety issue? I was trying to make a point in chat but eh yeah xD

As many perverts that we have in the world, there is a high chance that someone can take a person who is breast feeding and take it to the next level. What if not breast feeding in public could avoid sexual harassment?

In response to Saken:

The reason it's hurried and rushed is because of the amount of people who frown upon it more than anything else. Wouldn't solving that issue solve the one that you've stated?

In response to Mid:

Has there been evidence of this happening? I've never heard of it.

I think that, in that case, it probably wouldn't be reported. I don't know how many- but, as a chick, I get the feel a lot that when someone is sexually harassment, or taking it to the next level, other people view the woman as 'deserving it'. It's hard if the person who had it happen believes in the same thing, so it might not even get reported..

Also I just dislike eating with a lot of people in general, even out to eat. It's just not how my family does things- restaurants, fast food, eating outside of the home is seen as a more open and less intimate thing. Could just be a family thing, though. I hate to eat out. - Out out, not take out food. If it's not in my home, i feel uncomfortable and rushed. :c