Breast feeding in public

Yes all right it is absolutely nothing to do with me but I am somewhat astonished at the fuss over the last few days in the media about instances of women breast feeding in public. To me there is nothing wrong with it at all. The majority of women do it so discreetly that unless you were actually watching them like a hawk you wouldn't realise what they were doing. Even if you did realise you still wouldn't be able to 'see anything'. In my opinion this is not a feminist issue - it is a human issue.

It seems there are a great many double standards at work here. Page 3 of the Sun is fine. Naked breasts on television, in magazines and on adverts are all right but a women feeding a child is not. An adult eating a McDonalds burger in public is acceptable - a baby drinking milk is not. I would rather the baby was fed than that it screamed its head off - especially on a crowded bus. As for people saying it is disgusting - they seem to have some hang ups of their own to deal with - especially if they are not also objecting to pictures of naked breasts all over the place.

Ultimately there is no law against breast feeding in public and I would say if you don't like it - don't watch. I hate to see people snogging in public - but again as there is no law against it I just turn away and look at something else. My mother - over 50 years ago - breast fed me in public on a train from London to Brighton in front of a clergyman who was polite enough to go on talking to her and ignore what she was doing. Afterwards he apparently commented that as far as he was concerned it was perfectly natural and she should not be embarrassed (my mother was 22 at the time) about it - anyone who criticised her was the one with the problem in his opinion. This was in 1952. So why do so many people have an issue with it nearly 60 years later?