It seems Victoria's Secret has had a few incidents in which they turned nursing mamas away from their stores. Two incidents have happened in the past week alone. They used such terms as "unsanitary" and compared breastfeeding with "changing on the sales floor". Victoria's Secret needs a wake up call that breasts are not just a sexual object, but that they actually have a function, and that is to feed our babies!So.....there is a NATION WIDE nurse-in planned for Saturday July 1st at 1pm your local time, at your local Victoria's Secrets store. All nursing mamas and their supporters are encouraged to attend. The more people there are, the bigger the impact will be.Here's a link with more details
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=472764
And why is that?? It's the first way of feeding children until about 100 years ago. It's the natural way. I'll go along with what you say if bottle feeding moms are banned from feeding babies in VS too. Any place where they insist MY child starves.. their children must also starve.
ReplyDeleteI just don't think of feeding my baby in a store like that that doesn't have a lounge area. Maybe a department store, or a bench in the mall - I always have nursed in public, but I don't think I'd want to sit on the floor in a boutique and do it.
ReplyDeleteBiologically speaking, the only reason that breasts are "sexual" in the first place is because they speak of fertility. The primary use of breasts is for feeding the next generation of the species. Attracting a mate is part of that, but HARDLY the primary function. To say that they can only serve one function or the other, not both, is limiting and small-minded. Why not make sexy nursing bras? If Victoria's Secret can't celebrate and honor ALL aspects of womanhood, then they are obvioulsy marketing to a demographic other than empowered, educated, satisfied women. (You can be empowered and satisfied without breastfeeding... but if you're so easily offended by another woman's choices then you're not as comfortable in your own skin as you'd like to think.)
ReplyDeleteBreastfeeding is NEVER inappropriate. If you have a child that needs to eat, why should you go somewhere else to do it? No one tells women who stick bottles of formula in their babies' mouths to either put up the bottle or leave, so why should we when we're giving our children what they need? It's not unusual for me to breastfeed my son while I am shopping, I just do it in the sling. It's a lot worse to let him scream and cry until I find an "acceptable" place to nurse him.
ReplyDeleteBreastfeeding is appropriate no matter what. Why would you deny your child food when they are hungry?? I sure wouldnt. Im going to feed my son when he is hungry, im not going to let him scream while I search around for an "appropriate" venue. Everywhere is appropriate when you have a hungry screaming infant.
ReplyDeleteI'll be there.
ReplyDeleteThe woman who was thrown out was trying to find a quiet place to sit and feed her upset baby. She thought one of their changing rooms would be appropriate for use. But VS said it was unsanitary. The countertops in the store are FAR more unsanitary than breastfeeding.
it just seems very oxymoronish that a store that sells boob-related items would have a probelm with a natural boob-function. maybe if VS decided to add a sexy nursing bra line they'd get some more customers.
ReplyDeleteVS, to me, is seeking a specific market of women. us bigger-boobed women, wether nursing or not, really don't have a niche over there anyway....ever try to find something in their store that's 38D or larger?? all the big sizes are kept in drawers and selection is VERY limited. they really are selling a cookie-cutter shape/size of a lady, and unfortunately have left no room for us lactators either.
sad, truly sad how f'd up this supposedly woman-celebratory store can't celebrate one of the most primal and basics of what is feminine: breasts used to sustain and nurture our young.
I'm glad that it was pointed out that the size selection at the store is limited to women with model-type bodies. It's true, Victoria's Secret is absolutely on the forefront of the media-led message about women's bodies, what they "should" look like, and what they "should" be used for. It's a store that has no problem making products for boobs, putting boobs in ads, etc... you just can't USE the boobs! As for unsanitary... I think I'd be a little more worried about going into a changing room where women had been trying on undergarments all day than I would be that a woman had, god forbid, nursed in there!
ReplyDeleteHas anyone contacted the company about this? Could it just be the women that work in those particular stores?
ReplyDeleteI've breastfed 3 babies for 2 years each, so I support b-feeding issues. I also think that VS is a great company. I have large natural breasts and have never had a problem finding bras in their stores. I also have noticed that their catalogs feature women of various ages and breast sizes. They also sell comfortable cotton undergarments along side of the sexy.
I would like to hear a responce from the company before I side on this issue.
Considering the person who made the first post about breastfeeding not being appropriate in every venue is twenty one years old! I don't know how seriously I want to take his/her comment. The age plus the comment lead me to believe they are very immature.
ReplyDeleteBreastfeeding is ALWAYS okay no matter where you are. If you have a problem with it, then don't look!
There is nothing wrong with breastfeeding in public. I do not understand why it is inappropriate to nurse your child in the publics eye. They dont get offended by bottle feeding mothers then they should get offended by breast feeding mothers.
ReplyDeleteHi Adrian.. I see what you're saying but I'm not sure I'd attack the age issue myself. I was 22 and had 3 children under the age of 5 and was a nursing mama. Also, my group, primal mommies, is comprised mostly of women in their early twenties. It seems to me that OLDER women are USUALLY the ones who give guff about nursing.
ReplyDeleteJust another comment here:
ReplyDeleteI have always found it to be amusing and hypocritical that in the "old days" from the beginning of time until the early 1900's.. women were expected to cover themselves.. Everything but their face and hands.. yet nursing in public was never questioned.. showing an ankle made you a tart LOL. And then jump ahead to the 80's, 90's and now.. where women will flaunt themselves in almost NOTHING. Thongs, barely-there tops, etc.. but feeding a child is taboo??
I agree with everyone else. Every child has the RIGHT to eat. If my baby/child was hungry, i wouldn't give a second thought about nursing them, public or not. I won't let my child cry in hunger just because some other person thinks it's 'inappropriate' for me to nurse them. There is nothing 'inappropriate' about feeding your child. I don't care if they're 2 months or 2 years, if they need or want to be nursed, i will nurse them, regardless of what other people think and say. Great job Mama's!
ReplyDeleteWow, Victoria's Secret of all places! Pleeeease. Unsanitary? ROFL.
ReplyDeleteWhat is unsanitary about breastfeeding? You would think a company that makes its billions from breasts would be a little more tolerant of its purposeful activity.
ReplyDeleteI stand by what I say. She isn't immature because of her age alone. She is immature based on her age and her viewpoint. She obviously lacks wisdom, experience, an open mind, which for a lot of people come with age and/ or education.
ReplyDeleteBreastfeeding is appropriate anywhere, just as bottle-feeding is.
ReplyDeleteAdriane, age has nothing to do with it- I'm 21. It has to do with maturity and wisdom, as you said, but age is irrelevant. I wish wisdom came with age and education but unfortunately that hasn't proven to be true at all.