Monday, July 5, 2010

"Modest" vs "Discreet"

The New Mommy Files: Memories, Milestones, and Missteps: The Semantics of Breastfeeding: Why "Discreet" and "Nursing" Don't Belong in the Same Sentence

This is a wonderful post I just found. It's part of the Nursing In Public Carnival and she wonderfully reiterated everything I've said time and time again when the issue of discreetly nursing is brought up.
There is a vast difference between being modest and being discreet. I am modest when I breastfeed in public. I don't use a nursing cover (I don't want to eat under a cover, why should my child have to?) but I keep what doesn't have to be accessible covered up. But I will not be discreet; I won't go hide in the bathroom or in the car to nurse simply because some ppl are uncomfortable seeing breasts used to feed children.
It's appalling that people find it acceptable to tell a nursing mother to go elsewhere because they don't want to see her nurse. Some people are made uncomfortable by same sex couples, mixed race couples, people of other sizes or ethnicities. But no one tells them to leave because they are making them uncomfortable. So why is it that in our society people think it's ok to harass a mother for feeding her child because they are uncomfortable with it?