Brickbat: Cover Up

Lopolo / Dreamstime.com

A woman is threatening to sue the borough of Franklin, Pennsylvania, if officials do not apologize for calling the police on her for breastfeeding her 2-year-old daughter at a local beach. Michelle Ayala was at Franklin Pond beach with her children and breastfeeding her youngest when a city employee demanded she cover up or "do that somewhere else." When Ayala told the employee she had a legal right to breastfeed in public, that woman called the police. The officer who responded agreed with Ayala, But then, Borough Administrator Allison McHose appeared at the pond and said she had the right to remove Ayala.

Comments

[Intelligent Mr Toad]

I am happy and proud to say that where I live, it is legal to breast-feed in public. Only one catch: you're only allowed to breast-feed in public IF you have a baby.

[Hamster of Doom]

The law is whatever the person with the most power in the proximity says it is. The law is dead. All hail the law.

[sarcasmic]

This example right here clearly shows who the police serve, and it's not the public.

[Cy]

I really think that HoA's and townships should be volunteer contract based only. These mini tyrannies are bull shit. With the advancements in communication and travel, there really aren't a lot of good reasons to give such a small handful of people so much power over an area.

[Miter Broller]

Is it always a 'legal right' in public or is she mistaken? It should always be legal ON public property (public beach, library, city hall, etc), but if you are ON private property (i.e. shopping mall, restaurant, hotel) don't they have the right to restrict the locations one may breastfeed?

[Leo Kovalensky II]

"but if you are ON private property"

Now do public accommodation laws.

[Jerry B.]

"No shoes, no shirt, no service"?

[Longtobefree]

No shoes, no shirt, no boobs?

[Miter Broller]

"No skateboarding, no loitering, restrooms for patrons only"?

[Rossami]

Private property owners may generally establish restrictions but that doesn't apply in this case because the Franklin Pond beach is public property.

[Fuck you, Shikha (Nunya)]

If she does this frequently enough without covering up, isn't she exposing the child to unnecessary amounts of sun? Honestly everyone here just sounds like an asshole.

[Cy]

Being an asshole is part of being American. Being an Asshole while representing the government is exactly the opposite of being an American, well it's supposed to be.

[Horny Lizard]

I like that

[mad.casual]

Honestly everyone here just sounds like an asshole.

Yup. The real solution here wasn't to ask her to stop. The real solution was to find a seat maybe 10-15 ft. away and stare directly into her pupils. If you're not doing anything wrong, I'm not doing anything wrong.

[geo1113]

By the time a kid is 2 years old, solid foods have to be part of the child's diet. Even if one decides to keep breast feeding (which I think is nuts when the kid reaches 2), I would think the beach would be the place to have solids and leave the tittie for home.

Having said that, I have no idea why a borough administrator can order someone off a private beach.

[Cy]

My wife is breast feeding right now. It surprises me how repulsive I find breast milk, yet I chug cow's milk like it's water on a regular basis. Weird...

[Horny Lizard]

I hate mayo but I like eggs and oil. Weird...

[Cy]

Ditto.

[perlchpr]

My mother always tried to make the reverse argument for her meatloaf. (I later discovered that the problem wasn't that I dislike meatloaf, it's that my mother isn't a very good cook of some things. Sorry, ma.) But she'd always say "You like everything that's in it!"

Sadly, at the time, I wasn't quick enough to reply with "You like both cheerios and orange juice, and yet..."

[Holmes IV]

Just so you know, breastfeeding beyond 24 months is not uncommon. Also, it is recommended by the WHO*, to 2 years old and beyond. "As long as it is mutually desired" I think is the normal language of the recommendations.

http://www.who.int/nutrition/t.....eeding/en/

* That is the World Health Organization. I don't know if Dartley or Townshend give a crap.

[lap83]

I think the benefits at 2 years, if any, are psychological. Breast milk composition changes after the baby is about a year old and then it basically has the nutritional level of juice

[mad.casual]

I think the benefits at 2 years, if any, are psychological.

The benefits after the first several sessions are pretty hit or miss. Even when it's being produced to nourish the baby, the nutrient makeup is anything but consistent and that completely ignores the inconsistencies between production and demand.

The La Leche and WHO people who insist on exclusive breastfeeding are pretty zealous scientistic-types. They'll lump women who stop breastfeeding because they can barely feed themselves in with women who stop breastfeeding so they can get back to their careers and say "See babies do better when you breastfeed longer!"

[Fist of Etiquette]

THOSE TWO WOMEN WHO CONFRONTED HER ARE PROBABLY BARREN OLD HAGS. Am I right, ladies?

[Cy]

You just gave me flashbacks to The Barrens chat...

[Holmes IV]

holy crap, was that a vanilla WOW reference? Dude....

[David NoIan]

I still breastfeed my 42yo son and his grandchildren. I suppose you BIGOTS will tell me there's something wrong with that *snort*

[Horny Lizard]

Put it in YouTube and make some cheddar out of that milk.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Keep on Churnin' Til the Butter Comes

[Careless]

Can't be a story. She's not black

[loveconstitution1789]

We breastfeed the cops each and every day in public.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[lap83]

"When Ayala told the employee she had a legal right to breastfeed in public"

I don't think the employee should have called the cops, but she was asked to cover up. Lady, no one wants to see everything hanging out and it's not required in order to breastfeed.

[lap83]

We had a bunch of those obnoxious hippie moms in the college town where I used to live. One tried to pursue legal action with a coffee shop/bar because the patrons were understandably uncomfortable with her breastfeeding when they were trying to relax after work with acdrink. She's probably still there drinking and bfeeding her now 8 year old

[Pudgeboy]

If a woman breastfeeding a baby makes you uncomfortable, then there is something wrong with you.

[Wizard4169]

A boob being used for its design purpose? Oh, the horror!

[mad.casual]

So urinating in public is on the docket then and men can generally feel free to adjust themselves as necessary in front of women and children without fear of winding up on a sex offender registry?

Decorum isn't just whatever suits you.

[MikeyParks]

Totally in favor of breast feeding in public. I just wish the baby's head wasn't always in the way.

[SuperAwesome]

You making breastfeeding a child all about YOU is what is wrong with the world. BTW males have mammary glands and can produce milk. Thank your mom for that. Breasts are basically comprised of fat so when you get all excited by them you're basically fetishizing fat. It always is interesting to hear men whine about how gross fat is then they run and want to squeeze and play with fat blobs and watch them bounce and jiggle. They never seem to put 2 and 2 together that the thing they're getting off on is that yellow greasy fat they hate so much. Amazing the capacity for the male to lie to himself and live in fantasyland with no logic or reason.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

When Ayala told the employee she had a legal right to breastfeed in public, that woman called the police

Put two women in the room, and there's a 100% chance they won't get along.

[You're Kidding]

Oh how sexist.

Oh how true! 😉

[Longtobefree]

Clear evidence of discrimination here. Would anyone have acted the same if it were a man?