# Breastfeeding is not disgusting.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [July 8, 2002, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852 "2002-07-08T02:01:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/1 "2002-07-08T02:01:08Z")
So I was at the Target today, nosing around in the baby aisle. There was a lady there who was apparently shopping for a baby gift for someone. She was going on and on to her husband about how she disapproved of the new mother because she was _gasp_ _breastfeeding_! According to her, breastfeeding is completely disgusting. Repellent. Foul. Weird. Vomitrocious. She couldn’t believe that anyone in their right mind would _do_ such a thing.
I am so unhappy that this attitude persists in our society.
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### Author:  [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/2 "2002-07-08T02:06:31Z")
Musta been a bottle baby.
b.
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### Author:  [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/3 "2002-07-08T02:11:34Z")
I really don’t understand this. Ok, I BF in public. But only in certain places (ie, McDonald’s, yeah. art museum, no.) and under a scarf that covers my baby completely and more of me than any clothes i’m likely to be wearing. NOTHING from my neck to my waist is showing, including my arms. But people look at me like I grew a third head or something.
And in the nursery at church (because I consider the sanctuary to be one of those “no” places), the ladies who watch the babies said that I should start bottlefeeding soon. Why? My son is 3 months old. Why would I give him a bottle when I am available to feed him the best, most nutritious food available??
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/4 "2002-07-08T02:22:07Z")
That’s so stupid.
Queen Victoria thought breastfeeding her own children was disgusting-like a “dairy cow” and was angry when two of her daughters did so with their children. She even insisted that one cow in the Royal Dairy be named “Alice” after her 2nd daughter, the Grand Duchess of Hesse. (And mother of the last Tsaritsa).
However, her children were fed by wetnurses, so they weren’t bottle fed…
Either way, I don’t get it. That’s the whole POINT of breasts-they’re basically giant feedbags sitting on our chests.
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### Author:  [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/5 "2002-07-08T02:49:36Z")
Boy, that “giant feedbags” comment really puts things in perspective… 😃
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/6 "2002-07-08T02:51:09Z")
Well, they aren’t THAT big. :o
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### Author:  [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/7 "2002-07-08T03:31:14Z")
I’d really like to hear an explanation of why breastfeeding is bad. I can’t come up with a single reason.
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### Author:  [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/8 "2002-07-08T03:36:31Z")
A fair number of folks desperately want to avoid the simple fact of, for lack of a better phrase, being in the body. Various hang-ups grow out of that, breastfeeding revulsion being one of them. (And quite possibly, the “I just hate kids!” thing being another, that reinforces it.) Another is the really unfortunate tendency for people to over-sexualize everything about flesh, which breasts get a double whammy of (or a triple whammy of, in the case of some of them mutants from “Total Recall”)–a nursing infant doesn’t compute with that bit of hang-up, so the reaction is revulsion and recoiling.
People will fool you by walking upright and having those opposable thumbs.
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### Author:  [@tygre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygre)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/9 "2002-07-08T03:40:25Z")
I’ve nursed both of my kids in any manner of places: planes, trains, buses, shopping malls, grocery stores, parks, restaurants of all kinds – you name it. Never had a negative comment, but I have had some glares. And I am the queen of discreet breastfeeding - ain’t no free shows here, sorry.
Grow up, and get over it, people. It isn’t “dirty” or “disgusting”, it’s feeding a baby the way nature (and God, if you’re so inclined) intended. No, I won’t go in the bathroom - I don’t see YOU taking your food in there. Babies get hungry, and they want to eat. Would you prefer I let the baby scream instead?
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### Author:  [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/10 "2002-07-08T03:42:40Z")
Still, Drastic, it seems so bizarre. I mean, when I was pregnant, I was afraid I would be creeped out by the idea of a child sucking on my breast. But holding a perfect little baby for the first time, you just want to do everything for him, and getting to feed him from your own body, and hold him and be his whole little world… It’s so right. I mean, I can understand moms who can’t breastfeed, or who are afraid (like thinking it’s hard or that their baby won’t be getting enough to eat or whatever nonsense someone drilled into their heads), but I just don’t understand not _wanting_ to. Maybe it’s me.
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### Author:  [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/11 "2002-07-08T04:42:12Z")
Personally I don’t think its that big of a deal. Most women are pretty discreet about it, so its not like they are putting on a show to everyone.
I don’t know if my mom would vouch on the same thing based on experiences. Apparently as a baby I had a cold when she was breastfeeding me, causing her to get mastitis. :eek: Didn’t dare do it again with my little brother
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### Author:  [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/12 "2002-07-08T04:45:52Z")
Earlier this week I was in a Burgerville, and there was a woman there breastfeeding her baby. She was sitting opposite a friend at the table, chatting away.
No one I noticed gave it a second thought. Certainly didn’t see like a big deal to me, and I’ve never understood the objections others have.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/13 "2002-07-08T06:01:23Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Various hang-ups grow out of that, breastfeeding revulsion being one of them. (And quite possibly, the “I just hate kids!” thing being another, that reinforces it.)
Hmmmm, no, I don’t like most kids (my daughter was an exception) and I felt good about breastfeeding. I really don’t understand the reasoning behind people wanting to get the baby on a bottle and/or onto solid food as early as possible. In my case, I was breastfeeding for quite a while (a little over a year) because my daughter was allergic to cow and goat milk. She’s outgrown the allergy now, but I saw no reason to put her on a soy formula before she was weaned.
When I was nursing her, I found that other mothers who had breastfed wanted to watch me nurse her. It’s a very relaxing, beautiful sight. I think that breastfeeding is the best. What’s more, when a baby is breastfed, s/he isn’t just put in a crib with a bottle, s/he’s held close to Mama and cuddled, which I think is necessary.
I still don’t like most kids or babies, though.
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### Author:  [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/14 "2002-07-08T06:05:02Z")
Breastfeeding is great. The convienience factor alone is worth it, not to mention the closeness of it all.
I mostly tried to be descreet but basically I didn’t give a shit. I even breasfed on a plane seated next to a priest. Really.
It was especially fun to go out to restaurants with a bunch of girlfriends who all had babies around the same time. We’d inevitably get young male waiters. 😃 It was fun to watch 'em squirm.
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### Author:  [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/15 "2002-07-08T09:34:06Z")
\>\> That’s the whole POINT of breasts-they’re basically giant feedbags sitting on our chests.
When I was a kid in school, some teacher was explaining Greek classical architecture or some such thing and was stressing the combination of beauty with utility. He said nature always combines both perfectly and gave the female breast as an example. Nothing more useful nor more beautiful. _\__
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### Author:  [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/16 "2002-07-08T09:35:49Z")
This lady wasn’t complaining about breastfeeding in public. She was appalled that anyone would breastfeed _at all_!
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### Author:  [@tsarina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsarina)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/17 "2002-07-08T11:29:05Z")
I see nothing wrong with breastfeeding, in public or elsewhere. What gets to me are those people that think they know what’s best for _everyone’s_ child and are not afraid to get up in your face about it.
Various people think you shouldn’t breast-feed past six weeks, 3 months, six months, one year, etc. Why is it any of their business what a perfect stranger/ family member does with their child and their body?
- tsarina, who already has luscious feedbags, thankyouverymuch.ˇ
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### Author:  [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/18 "2002-07-08T11:39:18Z")
**Green Bean** , that’s what I got from your OP, and that’s just scary and weird. I mean, as our pediatrician told us, “That’s what they’re for.” In spite of the fact that they have other uses 😃 that is, indeed, their primary purpose.
Mrs. Dave-Guy fully intended to breast feed, but wasn’t producing enough milk, then got an infection, and it was a bad experience for her. But she missed being able to do it. Our second child was a bottle child from the word go, as a result. I don’t want to open the door for all sorts of breast vs. bottle debates, but she made her decision and you know what? Our children survived. They do that, you know.
I’d also like to add, **Lynn** , that bottle feeding our children gave me a chance to hold and cuddle and nurture our children, which was important to me as a man, and as their father. Of course, breast milk can and should be expressed and stored in bottles for many reasons, but I just wanted to let a father’s POV be known.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/19 "2002-07-08T12:00:44Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I’d also like to add, Lynn, that bottle feeding our children gave me a chance to hold and cuddle and nurture our children, which was important to me as a man, and as their father.
Oh, I let my husband change our daughter’s diapers whenever he wanted to.😃 Seriously, though, he cuddled her quite a lot, even though she rarely took a bottle (we tried to give her a bottle of formula and/or water every now and then, but she wasn’t fooled, it wasn’t Mom). She often took her afternoon nap in his arms, while he watched TV. She and I have been very fortunate that he IS a good daddy, and that he’s always been involved in her life. I did not mean to slight fathers by my remark. The world would be a better place if more fathers were daddies to their children.
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### Author:  [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2002, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breastfeeding-is-not-disgusting/117852/20 "2002-07-08T12:31:33Z")
I’ve encountered this attitude while I was breastfeeding my sons–I only let it bother me for a little while. It felt like I couldn’t go anywhere for any length of time because I’d have to be rushing back home (or find someplace private) to nurse. Finally I said “screw this!” and started nursing in public. I was carrying his lunch with me everywhere we went–why should I feel tied down when this is really the utlimate in convenience foods?! Surprisingly, few people noticed what I was doing at all, and the few who did and were bothered by it just glared.
Just because I’m a mom doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good shag on a daily basis. By the same token, just because my breasts are sexy and enjoyable (for me and my partner) doesn’t mean they’re not going to be the only thing on my kid’s menu for a good portion of his/her little life.
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