I realize that I bring it upon myself to a certain extent. I belong to an all-women's gym in Cambridge. I'm practically asking for it.
I was leaving the place today, after having finished my step classes, with little on my mind but the beers Gene and I would soon be imbibing, when I saw the scene I will now describe.
There were two women sitting there, on these little chairs set up in a not-so-remote recess of the locker room (right in the entranceway for all to see, actually) and one of them had her ample breast exposed for the world to see because that is where she chose to express her breast milk.
I'm sorry. I know it is natural. I know this woman does not have anything I have not seen before, but still...does she HAVE to pump breast milk in the gym? I mean, really HAVE to? There are some little private rooms with locking doors? Could she maybe have gone in there? I don't know. Its just a thought. Am I being a prude? I don't know.
I don't have kids. Maybe I should reserve judgement.
I mean, I have no qualms with seeing women nurse their kids. OK, maybe I start having a few qualms when the kid in question is 15 (another typical site here in Cambridge), but do I really need to see the whole pumping thing going on?
Tell me if I'm wrong.
9 comments:
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm? Beer...? Where's the beer pic? It's FRIDAY!
OK, OK, I know it was a disturbing sight, but really! We need the beer pic. Some of us really look forward to that.
Personally, I vote for a little more discretion when using a breast pump. I never, ever let anybody see me back when I was impersonating a dairy cow.
Now where's the beer?
I agree with you Nants, that has always been my biggest pet peeve. I truly hate seeing women nurse in public too. Why don't they pump and bring bottles in public. I too have no children, and perhaps I'm old fashion, but YUCK! There is a time and place for everything. When I worked in the ER we worked 12 hour shifts. So undoubtibly (SP?) some women had to pump their breast milk at work. I have to say, even though they did it in the women's locker room, it was disturbing. ( I know, you see it all in an ER, but can you get away from it for a second when you have to use the can?) One lady used to cover herself with a sheet, I thought that was very proffessional. Especially since where they sat in the locker room was a wide open view for all, if the door was opened. I agree with you Nant's, you're not a prude. Or, perhaps, we both are.
Fwiz,
I would not even say that the sight of actual breast feeding disturbes me. Except, as I say, when the child in question is 19 years old. I mean, I guess if the woman is out with the kid and the kid is screaming bloody murder because its hungry, then the mother has little choice but to feed it. I realize some women do it very openly and perhaps they should find a more private space...but whatever. The nursing thing hardly bothers me. But the friggin' pump going in the middle of the locker room...what is up with that shit??? The kid wasn't even there.
Well, if you don't let your milk down, it will hurt terribly, so I have heard. So I understand why they have to pump. But not in public.
I think it's totally gross and I have 2 kids myself. If someone wants to nurse, that's thier perogative but now a days , they shove it in your face and if you "complain" , they get all up in arms. People wanna argue that pumping is natural well so is urinating but you dont do that in the wide open either. It is "natural" but it should also be private. Maybe the reason I feel so negative towards it is because I grew up near Cambridge where people are very liberal about it and every time you turn around, someone is breast feeding a grown child who is washing thier tofu nuggets down with a big gulp of breast milk. Please, I see it all the time. I saw a mother in a toy store (in Cambridge as well) breast feeding a 3 month old and the older sibling, who was maybe 5 or 6, came up to the mother and said "I want a sippy" and the mother literally took the infant off her breast and let the big lummox "latch on" in the arts and crafts aisle. Yummy! When does it become "un-natural"? Aren't there laws to protect these kids?
Bravo LMS19 thank you for agreeing with me! Did you ever hear the story about my Mom and auntie Goolie taking a pottery class? They were in it and on lady who sat across from them, said, oh I have to leave. It's time for my little guy to feed. So naturally one of them says, awe, how old. The lady said 8 and she was not talking months! SICK!
Hey, I have a little one and hometime was babytime. If he was hungry out in public we would just go to the car ... very comfy there ... hey I have a mini (Mom) van ... yes Lauren just like you!!
Just couldn't get the hang of the "wrap myself with a blanket and feed thing"!
Pumping, hey try doing it at the firestation between calls etc with the guys ... actually it worked out great... if they all knew, it was never a big deal. If any woman says they can't do it ... just talk to me! Funny stories!
I've been a nursing mom and I have no qualms about whipping out the tittie in public back when I had a 0-6 month old. After that, I would nurse at my sister's house in view of others, but not really in public...
But pumping in public? NEVER! Why the sudden development of discretion? BECAUSE if you've ever had the pleasure of pumping, you will undoubtedly have noticed that your nipple, which may be of normal size in most situations, gets pulled to at least 2 if not 3 inches long! That's freaky when you're all alone. No one...and I mean NO ONE...not sisters, not good friends, not husbands...needs to see your National Geographic nipples!!!
CP,
The thing with the gym locker room is that there are, in fact, several private rooms with doors that are rarely used and which would have been the perfect place for this woman to pump her milk.
You pointed out that the locker room welcomes nudity, and to some extent, I agree. As I said, I change in the common areas of the locker room, but the prolongued nudity is never something I partake of. I change as quickly as I can and then get on with my routine.
As my sister, Lauren, said, taking a pee is also a completely natural thing, but you don't seem women squatting down to piss in front of everybody in the locker room.
Let me say, again, that I have no qualms seeing women breastfeed small babies, but the pumping in public thing just seemed to be one too far for me!
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