Lactaters Gonna Lactate

I’ll be honest. It took me awhile to come up with the title of this post. After a night like last night all I wanted to do was write. I wanted to tell all of you exactly what happened. But how could I in the heat of the moment? With my blood boiling. What happened you might ask….never fear, I’m beyond ready to share. I noticed a few extra breastfeeding posts on the newsfeed to my Facebook last night. Not from the support pages. From Army Wives pages. Multiple pages had a wall post from this woman who had been asked to leave the commissary at the military base on which she lives. She was very upset, and rightfully so. They had asked her to feed her baby in the nursing room they provided. She declined. Which as I might add she had a right to do. She was complained about enough until finally the staff asked her to leave. Was this woman marching around without a shirt? Was her breast completely bare for all to see? No. She was nursing her on while he was in a carrier. With nothing to see except his head. I know this story sounds familiar. Discrimination like this has been happening all over the country. Women have been demonstrating their rights in return with nurse-ins. Unfortunately this isn’t possible on a military installation. As the Garrison Facebook page so eagerly pointed out. But this isn’t necessarily simply about the injustice thus woman endured, no, it is about grown women using this situation as a laughingstock. Judging. Being derogatory. Saying despicable things. And to what end? Don’t they realize that if they are trying to provoke someone like me, it won’t work. Not only won’t it work, but you are very likely going to end up being written about on my blog. The original post went a little like this:

Immediately after I read it, I scrolled through the comments. I saw a few things I didn’t agree with. The main being,

well I support breastfeeding but….

doesn’t that mean you don’t really support breastfeeding? Just saying. So I commented. Sure, I knew that I was probably THE ONLY pro NIP advocate on the page, but I decided to play with fire. What happened next, spiraled out of control, faster than you can say boobie. I’ve decided to post screen shots of the incidents, so that I don’t paraphrase incorrectly.

There are many more ignorant statements, I chose the ones that stuck in my head the most.

Lets recap, I stood up for something I believed in, and was belittled. I was bullied. I was called names. Called crazy. Inferred to be a lesbian. I was attacked. Did I provoke? No. Did I want to? Hell yes I did. The only thing I wanted to say to those ladies, and I use that term loosely, was a good old fuck you. I wanted to tell them to go to hell. I wanted to call them bitches. Did I? No. If it weren’t for this cause being made a laughingstock. The women that stand up and protest being call hysterical, I might have. I refuse to feed into their stereotype. And perhaps I reached one person. Answer me this though, how could that be a support group. These women posted something. Jumped on the bashing bandwagon. And the second someone with a different view approached them, they ridiculed her. These are not role models. Nor are they threats to me. They are simply uneducated women. And I will not stoop to their level. Not ever. That is not a trait I want to pass on to my daughter. So stand up respectfully ladies. Empower yourself without belittling others.

Cheers