Ah the joys of breastfeeding in public.
1) You're so tired that you are stumbling around, just happy to be out of the house and looking at other adults who aren't pooping in their pants, puking in your hair and drooling, crying, and all the other joyous things that babies do. So there you are, out in public. You've worn your special breastfeeding shirt, have the muslin wrap that you will drape over yourself to shield the child and your breast just in case it decides it wants another feed, even though you just fed it 20 minutes before.. You get to the shopping centre, and scope out the "parents room" and find it doesn't even have a chair for breastfeeding mothers to use. Okay.. You'll have to actually use the drape and try to find somewhere quiet, just in case the child needs a feed. Sure enough, pretty soon, the child is screaming its head off. Off you head to that quiet little corner and drape the cloth over yourself and place the baby to the boob, nothing is showing at all. No one can see anything. And then you look up and see:
(a) A pervert staring at you with his mouth hanging open and his hands giggling in his pockets. Aka, a bit like Michael and his comments about nudging the baby to the side and having a bit of a drink himself.. pervert sits or stands there staring and thinks as Michael does and if you're really "lucky", his hands will be in his pocket. Otherwise he'll do a Michael, stand there licking his lips and thinking about it.
(b) A person (male or female) look offended that you are daring to feed the child in a public space and who will come over and tell you to your face that breast is not always best and it is offensive that you are putting that baby on your boobs in public.. again, no one can see anything at all, all that can be seen is the baby held close to the mother and a cloth draped over the shoulder and down to the lap, completely blocking any view of the child feeding.
(c) People who see that you are breastfeeding and turn away and give you some privacy or carry on as though you are not even there.
(d) People who think your child is doing something sexual and calls you a pervert.
2) Same as for 1. Except that you have taken the safe route and expressed your milk, just so you don't have to breastfeed in public. You know the parents room does not cater to breastfeeding and you've been through (a), (b) and (c) before when you have dared to breastfeed in public, so you decide to avoid any frustration and express and bottle feed the child. Fair enough you may think. And then the following happens:
(a) Random people come up to you when you take out the bottle of breastmilk to feed the screaming and hungry baby and ask you if you don't know that 'breast is best' and accuse you of being a bad parent because you are depriving your child of the goodness that is breastmilk.
(b) Some random people take it upon themselves to praise you for doing the right and proper thing instead of 'flashing your boobs to all and sundry which shows a lack of self restraint' and making out as if breastfeeding is sexual.
(c) People who look at you, give you death stares because you are not breastfeeding and shake their heads at you in disgust.
(d) People who carry on as if you aren't even there.
(3) Same as for 1. Except you go out to your car to breastfeed. There are no adequate parent rooms and the child is screaming for a feed and doing the bad silent, mouth is open cry with no sound and then takes the deep breath and then high pitched blue in the face sound emerges from its little lungs and mouth. So, off you rush to the car to breastfeed it. You want some privacy to avoid the potential perverts and old biddies who abuse you for daring to put a child on your breast in public. You have your special breastfeeding shirt on, to give you more added coverage, even in the car. So there you are, baby happily feeding and you relax, and feel that sense of peace and quiet that you get when you breastfeed.. no crying.. And then you look up to either of the following:
(a) Pervert has spotted that you are breastfeeding and hangs around near a car nearby in the hope that he can catch a possible glimpse of your boobs. Hands may or may not be in the pockets.
(b) Random person happens to walk past the car and taps on the windows, asking you if you are alright in there.
(c) Random person happens to walk past the car, looks in and starts abusing you for doing 'that' in public.. much the same as for 1(b).
(d) People walk past and see that you are feeding your child and ignores you, turns away and gives you privacy and otherwise carries on as if you are not there.
That is the joys of having a small baby and venturing out in public.
Breastfeeding women rarely have the proper facilities where we can go and sit in private when out of home, to feed a starving and screaming child. If we bottle feed it, we are considered bad parents because breast is best, even if the milk in the bottle is breastmilk. Breastfeeding women often have to contend with condescending and often insulting comments from people, regardless of whether they breastfeed or bottlefeed.
In short, there are no proper facilities.
But if you need to pee. There are proper facilities.
So you're complaining because you can't stand up wherever you are and piss against a wall in public? Tell me, when you are at home, do you use the toilet? Or do you go and stand in the corner of your living room, bedroom, dining room or kitchen and pee against the wall? I would imagine you use the toilet. So why do you think it is somehow acceptable to stand up wherever you are in public and just start wizzing against the wall, when there are proper facilities already in place for you to use. Eg, the toilet?
I can assure you, if there were proper, clean and comfortable rooms in public areas where women could go and breastfeed, they would be using them so as not to deal with 1) perverts, 2) sticky beaks, 3) people who think they need to lecture you about feeding your child 4) retards.