Another straw on the "To Formula of Not" debate...

[Fudgie]

Well I'm talking about America. I don't know where you are but if you are legallhy able to go topless, fine, go do it. Expose yourself all you want.

 

But here, we can't do that. We need laws to dictate common courtesy, sadly. But they are there. And here, you can't expose yourself.

 

I will not support rude BFing women who like to expose themselves. I will support courteous BFing women though. I have no issues with the latter.

[OptomisticGirl]

I'm with Fudgie. When breast feeding gets banned, there will be no one to blame but the mothers who didnt c9ver up.

[Seraphim]

As I said, how you feel about breasts is irrelevant. It shouldn't change your choice to be considerate. All that matters if that YOU know some people will get offended.

 

Yes, people in our culture will get offended and yes, everyone should cover up so that they don't cause unnecessary discomfort.

 

I guess I just find it rude that people are willing to make other people uncomfortable and not cover just to "make a point". Well, guess what...if public breastfeeding gets banned or more discouraged, you'll have the women who like to expose themselves to thank. They are ruining it for everyone.

 

How I feel IS relevant when I get treated like garabge. How I feel about being a woman and MY body is VERY relevant to me. I do not consider the judgement of other people more important than my own judgement of myself.

[lostnscared]

As I said, how you feel about breasts is irrelevant. It shouldn't change your choice to be considerate. All that matters if that YOU know some people will get offended.

 

Yes, people in our culture will get offended and yes, everyone should cover up so that they don't cause unnecessary discomfort.

 

I guess I just find it rude that people are willing to make other people uncomfortable and not cover just to "make a point". Well, guess what...if public breastfeeding gets banned or more discouraged, you'll have the women who like to expose themselves to thank. They are ruining it for everyone.

 

But what if it isn't to make a point. That is an assumption. They could not be covering up for a variety of reasons. You don't know, so why assume?

 

And yes how someone feels about breast is relevant. Because if that woman who is breastfeeding does NOT feel as though breasts are sexual or should be private, then that COULD be why she is breastfeeding in public and sees nothing wrong about it. That could be why she doesn't understand why others would be uncomfortable.

 

I don't think it's rude either way. Yes people in this society BELIEVE that covering up is common courtesy, but that doesn't mean that Sally ann subscribes to that belief.

 

And women who decide not to cover up, don't ruin anything for me--maybe they do for you and others.

[sweetpea03]

I'm not talking about other cultures. I am talking about here, where we are an industrialized nation. In the past many didn't cover themselves, but over time we had become more conservative and respectful of those around us. It hasn't been until lately that we are reverting back to the ways of before and just not caring or being respectful of those around us. I think our society is heading in a sad direction that many feel as if they have the right to do anything they please regardless of what anyone thinks. It's a matter of the feeling of entitlement. What makes breast feeding women so special that they can expose themselves, but no one else can? Many men would argue that they "need" to urinate, but that is still against the law. After all it is just a penis, as for the woman it is "just" a boob.

 

Any female child I have been around(from being a nanny, tutoring, baby sitting, etc) will refer to her boobs as one of their "private parts".

 

She should care because it is rude and I don't want to see it and neither do many others. That's why we have common courtesy, so we are respectful of everyone around us.

[Fudgie]

Again your operating under the assumption that your "standards" appeal to everyone else and SHOULD appeal to everyone else, and they don't. A woman may not care if it makes you uncomfortable--and she shouldn't.

 

People will always be uncomfortable--even if someone is clothed.

 

I'm glad so few people follow this logic because if everyone did, I would not want to go outside.

 

With that logic, you'd have everyone out exposing themselves, picking their noses, masturbating. Urinating and defacting in public, and what not.

 

Thank god for the laws that dictate you can't do indecent things in public because I see now that some would be doing it with no concern for others if the laws weren't in place.

 

And yes, I will assume the decency laws are universally acceptable in my country.

[OptomisticGirl]

She is pushing her views on someone by not covering up. That act al9ne is stating she has a view and she will do it but it would be RUDE of me to ask her tp cover up? Please.

[Fudgie]

I will pose this question: do you desire to cause others discomfort to make yourself a tad more comfortable (no effort needed to reach for a towel) when you can just as easily do the same thing in a way that does not cause discomfort?

 

If you answer yes, I will be left speechless. And you will get a cookie because not many people can do that.

And I'll thank my lucky stars I live an a place where people do care.

[lostnscared]

I'm glad so few people follow this logic because if everyone did, I would not want to go outside.

 

With that logic, you'd have everyone out exposing themselves, picking their noses, masturbating. Urinating and defacting in public, and what not.

 

Thank god for the laws that dictate you can't do indecent things in public because I see now that some would be doing it with no concern for others if the laws weren't in place.

 

And yes, I will assume the decency laws are universally acceptable in my country.

 

If more people followed that logic, then there would be less judgmental people trying to tell us what is common courtesy and what isn't.

 

And it isn't against the law to breast feed in public. Also glad you said "your country" because it is your country and the people within that have a series of beliefs that other cultures, and other countries simply don't agree with. There are also people in your country who for whatever reason don't feel the same way about what is "decent".

 

Decency--is very subjective. What is decent to you, or others on this thread, may not be to others. Some people don't even want a woman to breast feed at all(covered or not covered).

[sweetpea03]

I'm glad so few people follow this logic because if everyone did, I would not want to go outside.

 

With that logic, you'd have everyone out exposing themselves, picking their noses, masturbating. Urinating and defacting in public, and what not.

 

Thank god for the laws that dictate you can't do indecent things in public because I see now that some would be doing it with no concern for others if the laws weren't in place.

 

And yes, I will assume the decency laws are universally acceptable in my country.

 

I totally agree here. Without laws to protect other people, we would have one crazy nation with people doing what ever they please.

 

I'm glad people can't urinate in public or expose themselves.

[Seraphim]

Not that I would want to and certainly don't want to but I could at this very moment walk outside absolutely topless and you know what there is not one thing anyone can do about it. It is perfectly legal. Would I say anything to some one who did it. No. Would it affect my life? No.

[lostnscared]

She is pushing her views on someone by not covering up. That act al9ne is stating she has a view and she will do it but it would be RUDE of me to ask her tp cover up? Please.

 

How is she pushing her views, if she is not covering up? Especially if she is just feeding her child? Unless she places a boob in your face and tells you to "live with it or not look" then the act itself is not pushing anything on you. Again breastfeeding is about feeding the child. And it isn't rude to go up to her and cover up. You can do that if you want to. I even said that on another page. If you guys are that bothered, you can tell her to cover up. But I venture most people would just be offended and not saying anything lol.

 

My point is that BELIEVING that everyone should just "cover up" because it is common courtesy and expecting others to believe the same thing is projecting your standards on to others. Even Sweetpea said it "I don't do things that make people uncomfortable, so I would hope that people wouldn't do things that make others uncomfortable too". So because she doesn't do things that make people uncomfortable, others should do the same? Says who?

 

Everyone has a choice and their own beliefs about the matter.

 

I would cover up if I breast fed, but I am not offended nor would I believe that a woman should do what I do, just because what I'm doing is right for me.

[lostnscared]

I will pose this question: do you desire to cause others discomfort to make yourself a tad more comfortable (no effort needed to reach for a towel) when you can just as easily do the same thing in a way that does not cause discomfort?

 

If you answer yes, I will be left speechless. And you will get a cookie because not many people can do that.

And I'll thank my lucky stars I live an a place where people do care.

 

It depends on what it is I'd be doing. Also depends on what you mean by my "comfort" and if I even knew that what I was doing was making others uncomfortable or if in that particular situation I cared. I can't say yes or no, because your question is vague. As I said before, I WOULD cover up my breasts when I breast feed because that is what is right for ME, but I will NOT condemn, judge, or be uncomfortable OR push my feelings on the subject onto a woman who for whatever reason chooses not to cover themselves up or who even decides they want to bottle feed. I'm pretty much--live and let live in that respect.

[Fudgie]

If boobs aren't offensive to some people, then why do we ( in US just talking about the US here) have laws that say that you can't go topless? Why were people offended in the superbowl with the janet jackson thing?

 

You can disagree all you want. I saw the superbowl thing and laughed. But the truth is, in our US society, boobs are sexual and many people think they should be covered. Why expose your own view on boobs by exposing yourself and forcing others to look? If you cover them, you'll have zero problems.

[Seraphim]

If boobs aren't offensive to some people, then why do we ( in US just talking about the US here) have laws that say that you can't go topless? Why were people offended in the superbowl with the janet jackson thing?

 

You can disagree all you want. I saw the superbowl thing and laughed. But the truth is, in our US society, boobs are sexual and many people think they should be covered. Why expose your own view on boobs by exposing yourself and forcing others to look? If you cover them, you'll have zero problems.

 

Not true. I had problems, covered and all. People just wanted to project their own view about THEY think I should have been doing.

 

It must be bad in other parts of the world too if Britain enacted a law protecting breast feeding mothers.

[Lonewing]

Interestingly enough, most of these laws concerning indecent exposure and such are all only about 20-40 years old, respectively, all within the last lifetime. Somethign happened where we stopped growing up, or at least where we stopped developing upper maturity. I'm not too worried, though, becasue if these laws were made contrary to the natural social grain of humanity, the general populace will ignore them until they become obsolete like so many other laws [like anti-sodomy [as in, oral sex] laws] that we still have but are simply not well known anymore...unitl someone wants to sue, of course.

 

And people picking their nose in public hasn't gone away, not a single bit!!! See it all the time...

[sweetpea03]

My point is that BELIEVING that everyone should just "cover up" because it is common courtesy and expecting others to believe the same thing is projecting your standards on to others. Even Sweetpea said it "I don't do things that make people uncomfortable, so I would hope that people wouldn't do things that make others uncomfortable too". So because she doesn't do things that make people uncomfortable, others should do the same? Says who?

 

I do it because it is common courtesy. I think all people should be respectful of those around them. It's a matter of respect. If not everyone wants to see a woman's breast, then she should be respectful and cover herself. It's such a simple thing to do, that there is no reason for why she should not do so. Why force other people to look at your breasts while you breast feed. It is disrespectful. If a woman can simply cover herself, she will not have any problems.

[lostnscared]

If boobs aren't offensive to some people, then why do we ( in US just talking about the US here) have laws that say that you can't go topless? Why were people offended in the superbowl with the janet jackson thing?

 

You can disagree all you want. I saw the superbowl thing and laughed. But the truth is, in our US society, boobs are sexual and many people think they should be covered. Why expose your own view on boobs by exposing yourself and forcing others to look? If you cover them, you'll have zero problems.

 

if you think the decency laws somehow "impede" your life to the point that you feel the need to make a point and expose yourself, then perhaps another country and society would be a better choice. Just a thought.

 

I never said boobs weren't offensive to SOME people. I said to others boobs may not be offensive, and that it's a matter of interpretation and personal feelings on the subject. Not everyone was offended by Janet Jackson doing that, or by someone topless.

 

I didn't disagree with the notion that people don't want to see boobs--I disagreed with the notion that people should project their beliefs about breastfeeding uncovered in public for the sake of common courtesy onto others.

 

And I NEVER said anything about the deceny laws impeding on my personal life. I said that they may not be what others in this country subscribe to, and that is fine to ME. And I've already said that I would cover up. It seems as though you don't understand the notion that a person's own beliefs can be separate from everyone elses. In my case, I've said on here(I believe FOUR times) that I WOULD cover up my boobs. But I also said that I would be okay if someone else didn't, because ultimately I realize that not everyone has the same belief, and that just because I feel a "Certain" way(even if it may be universal in this country) doesn't mean others will feel the same, or should.

 

Do you understand now?

 

I don't have to move to another country for believing what I do, but thanks for the thought.

[lostnscared]

I do it because it is common courtesy. I think all people should be respectful of those around them. It's a matter of respect. If not everyone wants to see a woman's breast, then she should be respectful and cover herself. It's such a simple thing to do, that there is no reason for why she should not do so. Why force other people to look at your breasts while you breast feed. It is disrespectful. If a woman can simply cover herself, she will not have any problems.

 

It's disrespectful to you... And I agree if a woman didn't cover herself up, I'm sure she wouldn't have as MANY problems as woman who didn't, but she still would have problems. People have problems with everyone thesedays, covered up or not covered. It'd be really hard to not make someone uncomfortable, human beings are too judgmental for that to be the case.

[Lonewing]

If boobs aren't offensive to some people, then why do we ( in US just talking about the US here) have laws that say that you can't go topless? Why were people offended in the superbowl with the janet jackson thing?

 

You can disagree all you want. I saw the superbowl thing and laughed. But the truth is, in our US society, boobs are sexual and many people think they should be covered. Why expose your own view on boobs by exposing yourself and forcing others to look? If you cover them, you'll have zero problems.

 

Because we in America cannot take these ideas in a mature manner anymore - we see them, and we get perverted. As in, rude. It's possible to react to a boob in a non-perverted way, it starts with simply understanding and recognizing it for what it is and moving on. Until then, this culture I live in is easily manipulated by external forces. We could take it 40 years ago, but ever since we "learned' that one should go through public life without ever seeing anything that offends one's 'common" senses, we've taken strides backwards on a number of fronts. Yes, we do take better care of victims of real crime now, but at the same time, the number of "crimes" is now on the rise becasue we have terrible mental preparation for such things.

[sweetpea03]

It's disrespectful to you... And I agree if a woman didn't cover herself up, I'm sure she wouldn't have as MANY problems as woman who didn't, but she still would have problems. People have problems with everyone thesedays, covered up or not covered. It'd be really hard to not make someone uncomfortable, human beings are too judgmental for that to be the case.

 

It's disrespectful to many people. I know most of my friends don't want to see a woman exposed and breast feeding. I am only saying that out of respect for everyone, people should be considerate and cover themselves. If a person still has a problem with a woman breast feeding while she is covered(which I have never seen), then that is their problem. But no one has the "right" to expose himself or herself in public, regardless of the reason.

[lostnscared]

It's disrespectful to many people. I know most of my friends don't want to see a woman exposed and breast feeding. I am only saying that out of respect for everyone, people should be considerate and cover themselves. If a person still has a problem with a woman breast feeding while she is covered(which I have never seen), then that is there problem. But no one has the "right" to expose himself or herself in public, regardless of the reason.

 

But it isn't disrespectful to everyone. Most of my friends, family, and I-myself--don't care if we see a woman exposed breast feeding. It's sort of like a "whoopdeedoo we saw a boob" then we keep going. It just is such a minor issue in the grand scheme of many bigger issues that it just doesn't really warrant much of anything negative from me. I'm more concerned with much larger issues than a woman unexposed feeding her child.

[Seraphim]

Same here. It does not bother me either. It does not bother my mother. It does not bother my brother, it does not bother my brother's wife.......................

 

No, "common" decency is NOT universal even in the SAME country.

[lostnscared]

I'm very surprised at how angry people are at woman for breast feeding exposed. Very interesting. I never knew this is how people felt.

[sweetpea03]

But it isn't disrespectful to everyone. Most of my friends, family, and I-myself--don't care if we see a woman exposed breast feeding. It's sort of like a "whoopdeedoo we saw a boob" then we keep going. It just is such a minor issue in the grand scheme of many bigger issues that it just doesn't really warrant much of anything negative from me. I'm more concerned with much larger issues than a woman unexposed feeding her child.

 

That's great that it doesn't bother you, but because it does bother other people, it is respectful to not do that act and just cover oneself. I could see someone pee in public and it doesn't necessarily bother me, but because it bothers others, they should not do it.