Target Nurse-In: Did It Change Perceptions of Public Breast-Feeding?
Boobs and babes took center stage Wednesday morning as nursing mothers held “nurse-ins” at Target stores across the country to assert their right to breast-feed their children in public.
The more than 250 peaceful protests created plenty of media attention but little drama on the ground, where Target employees and fellow shoppers largely ignored the clusters of women feeding their babies.
The protesters, so to speak, were an unlikely bunch: smiling, middle-class mommies toting their equally smiley babies. They gathered near the front of Target stores, where some remained while others dispersed to the in-store Starbucks or the clearance racks or the baby-gear department. In an ironic twist, some moms nursed their babies near the formula aisle.
Wednesday’s nurse-in, one of the most comprehensive in recent memory, evolved from the experience of one Houston-area mother, Michelle Hickman, who says she was asked repeatedly on the evening of Nov. 29 to relocate to a fitting room after she’d plopped down on the floor in the women’s clothing department to discreetly nurse her 5-month-old son. According to various emails from company executives to mothers and others who complained, Target is supportive of mothers who breast-feed in its stores:
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/29/target-nurse-in-did-it-change-perceptions-of-public-breast-feeding/#ixzz1hxQug56r
= new reply since forum marked as read
We agree that she should be able to breast feed unhindered and unopposed. We surely agree she should be treated courteously. I hope we don't disagree that for an employee to offer her a more comfortable and voluntary option--even if it is more private, should not be taken as offensive. Certainly we agree that for an employee to demand she stop or threaten her or use the language attributed to them in the posted link is despicable. I don't see any disagreement. 
I stated that I find the article to be questionable, since it makes derogatory comments towards the woman in addition to the provocative, inappropriate comments attributed to the employee(s). If the facts are as stated it is horrible..Yet, I gave benefit of the doubt-- as was apparently appropriate, given the other poster who commented on the woman's own interview on video which seems to contradict some of the stories' "facts."
Regardless, I stated that if true, Shame on Target. If they have policies in place, shame on the one employee who apparently was so in violation of the policy. It does seem from the woman's own statement that the other employee was merely offering an alternative for her.
What is the argument? If you read my other posts, I am HARDLY the one you want to suggest is less than supportive of women's right (and need) to breast feed. Having worked a large part of my professional life to promote it across cultures and across the world, I am HARDLY the one you should doubt.
Last edited Fri Dec 30, 2011, 05:49 AM - Edit history (1)
We are not in disagreement.. We never were..
Stay out of church!
that most sane, reasonable people would be able to tell the difference between a woman baring her breasts for the purpose of feeding her child(ren) and actually being indecent and respond appropriately. As for anybody whom is actually bothered by seeing a woman breastfeed their children, well, I have to ask, why? Though maybe I'm a little biased as I happen to think that women's breasts are quite lovely to look at. 
At the very least, people whom are offended by it can simply choose to look the other way and/or walk away. It's not like they're strapped in chairs and FORCED to watch women breastfeed or anything.