The Primary Nursing in Public Myth: “The Right Not To Be Offended”

We live in a culture where actresses and models flaunt their sexuality in form fitting clothes with exposed cleavages. Yet there was outrage when actresses like Salma Hyek and Maggie Gyllenhaal were “caught” on film breastfeeding in public. This seems to say that it is acceptable to display bare or nearly bare breasts in art or erotica. However, it is offensive for a woman to breastfeed her child in public, when there is less breast exposed than in couture dresses on the red carpet.

To Be or Not Be Offended

Distraught citizens claim they have the “right not to be offended” by mothers who nurse in public. These socially sensitive people need to take a quick read of the bill of rights. While our country has laws to protect any number of human rights, there is no legal protection against being offended. That is because what is offensive for one person is perfectly acceptable to another. We are a nation where diversity is generally embraced, in our culture and our thoughts. Our Constitution contains any number of laws that protect that diversity. And despite several attempts by local lawmakers to make it illegal, public breastfeeding has been legally in case after case.

Although breasts are symbols of sexuality in our culture, breastfeeding can conjure up shudders of disdain among folks. Breastfeeding is a natural act that has been around as long as mankind, as has erotica. While the erotic depiction of female breasts offends many mothers, they to have to accept that this type of “art” is also legally protected.

photo by Guenter M. Kirchweger