Photo by Amiran White/The NEW MEXICAN
An Española mother expressed gratitude after learning that about 30 parents and their children sat in front of an Vermont airline counter Wednesday to protest her getting kicked off an airplane last month for breast-feeding her child.
Mothers breast-fed their children and held up signs during the airport “nurse-in” in South Burlington, Vt.
Emily Gillette, 27, had complained that she was kicked off an airplane because she was nursing her 23-month-old daughter, River, on Oct. 13.
The thought of women protesting in Gillette’s honor brought tears to her eyes, she said from her home Wednesday. “I’m amazed,” she said. “I’m totally touched.”
One of the Vermont mothers, Lora McAllister, said, “I just think it’s unbelievable that it happened in 2006, especially in Vermont. It’s kind of mind-boggling.”
“[The flight attendant] actually said I was offending her,” Gillette said of the flight attendant who asked her to cover up.
Gillette said she hopes the claim she filed will force the airline to train its staff to deal with mothers who are breast feeding. “They need to train their flight attendants to tell them to leave breast-feeding mothers alone,” she said.
I would add — instruct all the officious, small-minded twerps of the world to stop interfering with people in general. Keep your hangups to yourself.
Ah come on! Breasts and nipples are just about the most appalling parts of the human body. Only genitals are worse.
I’d be damned if my children should ever see anyone sucking a nipple.
That this woman would even think of using anything but Nestle is so wrong she ought to be prosecuted.
To prevent this for the future, I suggest women should be banned from airplanes.
For any doubters out there: It is no coincidence that “It sucks” means it’s really really bad.
And for all the boys: Don’t look. You might turn blind!
WOW! I never knew breastfeeding was a terrorist activity. Am I crazy for thinking that flight attendants are getting too much power? They’re supposed to serve drink and food, bring a pillow, maybe a handjob if you’re lucky. But such value judgements should be way beyond them.
Good for the women standing, or nursing, for her rights. Women have more balls then men when it comes to rights issues it seems.
Considering you can’t take liquids on a plane anymore, what is a mother of a young child to do??
I am surprised that the TSA will allow women to take their breasts on board. Why is our country so full of dumbasses?
I think the thing that bothers me most is that the child was still breast feeding at 23months old.. People, thats a 2yr old still breast feeding.
-Fratm
#5
I agree. She should have gone with Nestle. Then the sucker wouldn’t have looked so damned developed.
I agree with #5. I’d be offended too. A two year old!?!?! Any child that can walk and talk would just weird me out if they were breastfeeding in front of me. Call me a hatemonger, I guess…
That poor kid is going to be fucked up in the head good.
It’s actually pretty common in most areas of the world (including the US) for babies to be breastfed until 2 and beyond, except in places where baby formula (or junk food) has taken over due to commercial pressure.
Few 2 year-olds in developed countries are nursing as their only nutrition, but it is a perfectly natural way to feed and comfort a baby or toddler. And WAY better than most of the crap that people feed their kids.
I’d save my outrage for the people who feed their 2year-olds big macs and other junk-food because nursing is so “weird”.
Well, It’s common for me to fart and belch, but I generally refrain from doing it public, so as to not offend. Why is this any different? It’s a tact issue.
IMHO 23 months is a little old, but almost irrelevant to the issue.
Given our current anti-liquid paranoia and the fact that the kids may just be used to breast feeding, this is nonsense on the part of the airline….
“Cover Up” may not be an option with an older child, too. They’ll take it off.
As soon as my daughter learned how to “undo” the various snaps and zippers (designed to confuse adults, I think) on her clothes, her favorite “dinner-in-a-restaurant” activity was trying to get naked. She was a bottle baby, which allowed me to have the honor of handling some of the 0-dark-30 feedings.
Regards,
Stu.
Yeah, Chris — don’t feed your kids when you think it might offend some dweeb! That’s really tactful.
I agree with #9. You’d be surprised at the number of cultures where lengthy breastfeeding is the norm. People who are offended by breastfeeding in public simply need to get over it. There’s nothing shameful, wrong or immoral about it. It’s the kind of thing that 3rd graders find amusing, I hope we’re all older than that.
#5, 6, 7, 9
Recent studies show that childern that breast feed until 24 months are in some cases 40% less likely to catch oportunistic infections – including ear infections- i.e. no tubes. Most kids immune systems don’t kick on full until 24 months.
Have none of you read “Grapes of Wrath”?
Tee-Hee, 14.
While I agree, you just reminded me of reading “A tree grows in Brooklyn” — and “giving baby the Gussie”. Phew!
Eideard – LOL!
Thanks – I forgot about that one.
Heavy lactation is effective birth control. With frequent breast feeding menstruation can be held off up to two years after birth. As soon as supplemental food is introduced this effect wains because a lot of suckling is required. If your religion prohibits birth control, this natural method can be useful.
What does she mean that it is unbelievable, “especially in Vermont”?
Is she referring to Vermont’s history of supporting the dairy industry? Perhaps this “home grown” milk is a threat to Vermont’s dairy industry. That’s why she got kicked off the plane!!!
Good for all the nurse in participants. Breast milk is so much better for the kid than formula and a world better than many of the other food non-offensive parents feed their offspring
#10, Well, It’s common for me to fart and belch, but I generally refrain from doing it public, so as to not offend. Why is this any different? It’s a tact issue.
Comment by Chris — 11/16/2006 @ 9:20 am
Hey, whatever turns your crank. And if your eating is offensive, then thank you for not doing that in public too. Most of us don’t have a problem with eating in public. So why should a 22 mth old kid that just so happens to be feeding on fresh milk, be different.
Was the local MILF club present too?
So I conclude:
Breastfeeding is good for the child in numerous ways. And for the mother as well, not least as a contraceptive.
Our society has a lot of work to do to accept this (quite natural) way of feeding the offspring. It is NOT rude. It’s actually the most natural way to make your kiddies strong and healthy. It is not a coincidence that we are mammals.
Shunning mothers who feed their kids is wrong. So is farting and belching among “other” people.
And, while I’m on the roll, I’ll add:
Smoking around kids is wrong. Be it in the car, or if the parents are so stupid that they bring their kids to eat in the smoking area in restaurants. Or, in fact any other place. Yet, I see it all the time. It’s sad.
Go Emily Gillette 😀
That woman was just like the UCLA computer student who refused to leave before saving his work. Total disrespect for authority. They should have called the UCLA cops to tazer her, and the baby too. Twice.
#23
LOL
Since 9/11, flight attendants have been acting like NAZIS who freak and turn the plane around, force it to land, and boot people off for being too dark-skinned, for being children, for breast-feeding, for coughing, for hiccupping… Where does it end? They all act like they’ve been deputized air marshals. Just get back to “coffee or tea…” already.
Newsflash: Benadryl and other antihistamines can and do often cause the opposite effect and make kids MORE hyper and agitated, so they’re no panacea. God forbid you have a difficult child and need to travel long distance. I for one do not let my kids run rampant and do firmly believe in discipline. But sometimes they can be just inconsolable, especially as infants and toddlers. Oh, but if you try to soothe them by breastfeeding in public… Can’t do that either. Sometimes I think some people expect you to smother the kid with a pillow – probably the same people whose parents should have smothered THEM with a pillow when they were horrible selfish rug rats.
We once had a terrible flight with our inconsolable 20 month old coming back from vacation in the Caribbean. Even all the “experts” who offered help on the flight couldn’t get him to stop. Sometimes kids cry because they’re sick, or because the air pressure hurts their ears. We were so traumatized ourselves we decided to drive from IL to FL to go to Disney for our next vacation.
For you self-righteous heartless self-centered bigots out there, wait until they come for YOU. Maybe it’ll be your offensive perfume, your body odor, your loud shirt, your obnoxious laugh, or just your plain ugly mug that will get YOU kicked off your next flight. Bad enough they take away the food, don’t let you bring your own drinks so you have to pay a ransom past the security check if you’re thirsty, and completely dehumanize you at security before they cram you on their over-booked, over-priced sardine cans. Then they have the audacity to kick you off after taking your money for your seat(s) and cause you to incur more cost and inconvenience! Whatever happened to the airlines being part of the SERVICE industry?