Dearest Karen,
Please know I write this with love, admiration and bemusement, and some ambivalence on my part about whether or not I agree with you!!)
You don't have any kids, do you?
Susan (a militant public breastfeeder who was aware of the etiquette issues and felt a little awkward but did it anyway)
----- Original Message ----- From: "Karen Mercedes" <dalila@R...> To: "Edward Norton" <belcantist2003@y...> Cc: <vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 8:10 AM Subject: [vocalist] OFF: Public breast-feeding (was: Did Somebody Mention Counter-Tenors???!!!)
> Sorry, folks. I don't care how "natural" or "beneficial" breast-feeding > is, in modern American society it is STILL bad manners for a woman to > expose her breast in public places (the exception being the erotic > entertainment venues - which are in and of themselves etiquette > minefields). Far too many private functions are now seen as perfectly okay > to perform in public view, much to the dismay of those of us who wax > nostalgic over the comforting discreetness of the etiquette of past > generations (borne out of what has become an almost extinct sense of > consideration for the sensibilities of others). Whipping out > one's tit and shoving it into a baby's mouth simply is not an activity > that most strangers - and even friends of the mother - really care to be > exposed to in public places. The mother really should stop thinking solely > of her own convenience, and instead think more of the offense she might > cause by her action. The whole premise of a system of etiquette is NOT to > challenge the rights of other people to be offended by certain unmannerly > acts, but instead to provide a code of minimal acceptable conduct that is > designed so that no-one really has to ponder whether a given action will > possibly offend others. Militant public breast-feeding is unmannerly pure > and simple. And attempting to turn it into a campaign of sorts seems like > a very thinly veiled attempt by the offending mother to divert attention > from her own laziness in not simply standing up and moving to a place that > is PRIVATE before feeding her baby. If this means having to interrupt a > dinner-table conversation for 15 minutes, so be it. Part of parenthood, as > any parent will tell you, is relearning how to manage time, prepare for > contingencies, and charmingly apologise for the interruptions that one's > children inevitably cause to one's social life and own convenience. > > Karen Mercedes > http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html > ________________________________ > One must be something if one > wishes to put on appearances. > - Ludwig von Beethoven > > > > >
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