Breastfeeding women are not exhibitionists pleasuring in a public act; they’re simply meeting their child’s basic need to be fed
It’s been 20 years since the furore around breastfeeding in state parliament and sadly, it seems, women are still copping the same appalling treatment.
Susie O'Brien
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Twenty years ago this month, Victorian MP Kirstie Marshall breastfed her 11-day-old baby on the floor of parliament.
The incident, which saw the speaker eject Marshall for bringing a “stranger” into the house, caused an international furore.
Marshall’s experience – which was the result of unfortunate timing rather than a deliberate stunt – paved the way for women to breastfeed in parliament.
How depressing that two decades later – and a day after International Women’s Day – another mother was subjected to the same appalling treatment.
Marshall’s baby Charlotte can now drive and vote but times haven’t changed enough to spare another woman from being forced to exit a public place while feeding her child.
On Thursday, the woman was asked to leave a County Court room after the judge saw her breastfeeding.
“Madam, you will not be permitted to breastfeed a baby in court,” Judge Mark Gamble told her.
The woman told the Herald Sun she was “humiliated” at having to walk past everyone after being told it would be a distraction for the jury.
Women daring to breastfeed in public are familiar with the censorious public gaze bestowed on them by judging strangers. There is still a feeling that breastfeeding should only be done in private or at home.
Such views belie the fact that most women go to extraordinary lengths to avoid a dreaded “nip slip” and hide under blankets and wraps. Indeed, the woman in court today was sitting at the back and covered herself and her baby with a blanket.
Breastfeeding women are not exhibitionists pleasuring in a public act; they’re simply meeting their child’s basic need to be fed.
Like Marshall 20 years ago, such mothers deserve more respect from males who will never have to choose between staying home or feeding a hungry baby in public. Breastfeeding women belong in court, just as they belong in the house – Parliament House.
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