We hear about scores of women who think it is a natural and beautiful thing. They even stage "nurse-ins" to demonstrate that they should be able to do it anywhere. I for one do not want to see another woman's breast, exposed in public. I have to be honest -- I just don't want to see it and I am a woman. I think breast feeding is a beautiful thing between a mother and her child -- but their beautiful moment is not specifically beautiful to me nor to the vast majority of us. I am not in on the relationship. I praise women who are willing and able to breast feed.
Let's use some analogies. Babies also soil their diapers. This is a natural thing and it is a signal that the baby's digestive system is functioning properly. It is good when babies poop! Do these same women insist that I see their baby's diaper changed in aisle 8 at Target? The act of making love is a beautiful thing between two people who deeply love one another. Should they too be able to demonstrate that deep love in front of those of us who are not a part of that relationship? Of course not! We try not to pass gas in public places even when it too is a natural thing for our bodies to do. We don't do it though when we can help it.
Being a mother of a baby is a challenging thing. It takes time, it takes planning and it is probably the most challenging "job" out there. Most moms choose to become moms -- motherhood is rife with sacrifices and rewards. I have no issue with the occasional breast feeding in public -- if there are truly no other alternatives. There are lots of ways to do it in public discreetly and yet not minimize the experience between mother and child and not affect the nutritional value of the meal. If a mom really needs to feed her child when she is out and about she can ask for a private place nearly anywhere to feed her child and to have that moment or two between herself and her child. I do believe we should be sensitive but I also believe mothers should plan -- they too should be sensitive. A mom more often than not can step out to her car and have the private moment in her own space. None of these are unreasonable solutions nor are they insensitive. Why is it that I am insensitive if I don't want to see her breast but she is not insensitive if she forces me to see it? I know why, because a baby is involved.
We all adapt every day to societal norms. What is acceptable to me might not be acceptable to you but we refrain from certain behaviors and acts because we are a society. In today's society we allow small groups to hijack the whole society with their wants and needs without regard to what the majority wants or needs. It isn't okay to do things in public "just because you can". There are a lot of things we have the "right to do" but is it the right thing to do? We lose sight of that because the individual has become more important than the society.
What I don't understand is this. In most cases a left leaning, more liberal person wants to "share the wealth", close the gap between rich and poor and force us all into a standard of living that makes us equal -- regardless of how hard the individual works. But when it comes to "self expression" they think that their personal expression is more important than that of the society as a whole or that their small group should be considered over that of another group, even if that other group is a majority. An interesting dichotomy. I believe just the opposite. I believe the individual should be rewarded for hard work and be able to keep the majority of the rewards for his labor. I also believe that there is a balance between self expression and societal good. I don't believe that just because it is my "right" that I should do whatever it is I have the right to do. I have to balance what I want and what is reasonable before I act. This is not oppression this is consideration.
Individualism and multi-culturalism have the same roots…
America used to be a "melting pot". People came here from all over the world because America had so much to offer them. They came here to become "Americans". We were proud to be called a melting pot. We are not a melting pot anymore -- the culture that is "American" is now vilified and minimized. Melting connotes the combining of materials into a new material -- it took all those ingredients to be "America". We are now a nation of tribes and the culture of America is gone or fading quickly. When people first began to immigrate here they brought who they were and where they came from with them. They honored those origins in their homes and added elements of themselves to the "pot". It made the pot more vibrant and interesting. But there is no pot anymore. America is filled with immigrants and individuals who think that they do not need to melt -- that everything they are should remain intact. Assimilation has become a dirty word. "United" is no longer united and divided we will fall.
From the mothers breast feeding in public to the immigrant insisting that his culture from home should be accepted in totality after he moves to America -- we have become a society of "Me". It is MY needs, MY wants and MY desire that have become paramount while it has become "our" money…That seems pretty backwards to me and it is a sickness that will lead this once great nation to mediocrity if not ruin.
