Andrea’s Weblog

We officially outed ourselves as lactavists this week. I got an email about a national nurse-out at Applebees on Thursday and signed up to coordinate an Augusta location. I spent the last day sending press releases, calling the media, making posters, and calling the sheriff’s department to be sure we could protest. Heather, my unofficial co-coordinator, and I weren’t sure if anyone else would attend, but we decided we were ok with being the only ones there.

This morning we donned our pro-breastfeeding shirts and headed out for an hour-long nurse-out at the Evans, GA Applebees. We had a total of 6 adults and 8 kids–not a bad showing on a GA-SC football weekend!

The nurse-out was in response to an incident at a Kentucky Applebees earlier this summer. A mom sitting in a corner booth was asked to cover her baby with a blanket while breastfeeding or leave. She produced a copy of Kentucky law stating her right to breastfeed without interference, but the store manager still demanded she don a blanket. She left the store and followed up with a letter to the owner of the franchises in that area. The company that owns a bunch of Applebees in that area ignored letters for 2 months before responding that they were considering making BLANKETS AVAILABLE at their locations. Yes, folks you read me right. Women will be forced to don unfashionable Applebee’s baby blankets and try to keep the blanket from slipping while infants squirm underneath begging for fresh air. How any eating gets accomplished for either mom or baby is anyone’s guess.

Applebee’s callous and uninformed response to this incident sparked the call for the nurse-out. A nurse-out is an event to educate the public (as opposed to a nurse-in which would be a reaction to a particular event). In this case, the goal was to draw public awareness to the discrimination that mothers and babies face and to encourage companies to implement a formal company-wide breastfeeding friendly policy.

Woman are constantly being discriminated against, singled out when they are approached to cover-up, move or be more discreet. This can cause women to feel like they are doing something shameful or inappropriate. It has to be that people are just offended at the act of nursing, not that they actually ever see anything It must be shocking for some folks to realize that we are indeed mammals–we nurse our young! I’ve never witnessed anyone (except at a La Leche League meeting) “whipping it out.” Even if they do catch a glimpse, I’m sure it’s not anything more than you would see on TV or even at the mall.

Society is giving women conflicting messages. We are told by the American Academy of Pediatrics to breastfeed for at least a year, but then told not to do it in public, or if you do, you’d better not offend anybody. So when does my baby’s LEGAL right to eat anywhere, anytime outweigh someone’s offense at witnessing it?

I think it takes more than laws, it takes people in society to demand change. In the last day or so, I have been thinking about what it would be like if American society were totally accepting of breastfeeding. I’ve actually let myself imagine it. I’ve imagined going into a restaurant and not having to remember to ask for a booth and sit with my back to the crowd. Not having the “what if Elena needs to nurse” plan running through my head while I’m out. But can American society ever view the breast as an instrument rather than an ornament? Would nursing in bathrooms, cars and fitting rooms be a thing of the past? Will these stories of women getting thrown out of restaurants and planes horrify my girls when/if they become mothers?

Already, things are changing. As I look at the reports from groups around the country, many Applebees have enacted pro-breastfeeding policies and posted the international breastfeeding icon in their windows. Yes, breastfeeding is normal and if you don’t like it, put a blanket over YOUR head.