Mother told to cover up while breastfeeding on bus

[Symbonite]

BC Transit has offered an apology to a Victoria, B.C., mother after a bus driver asked her to cover up while breastfeeding on the bus last month.

Olena Russell said the July 14th incident started immediately after she boarded the bus while nursing.

"The bus driver stopped my husband and insisted that I should be covered up," she said. Russell says her husband objected, but the driver argued the matter was at his own discretion.

"Both of us knew it was not," she said. "We were a little bit uncomfortable on the bus at that point and voluntarily got off."

The couple then filed complaints with BC Transit and the BC Human Rights Tribunal.

Russell says she doesn't want to see the driver reprimanded, but wants to assure the situation is not repeated.

Spokeswoman Joanna Linsangan said BC Transit has sent a notice to all of its drivers. "We feel that transit is for everyone," she said. "A mother has the right to breastfeed her child in a public area, and yes, that means transit buses as well."

The couple was also given a formal written apology and a month of free bus fare.



Man on Man Dont ever do that...You might as well jump on a gernade than having to start dealing with Militant Brestfeeding mothers. I dont care either way Breastfeed or dont in public. I just know that when someone says that they all come out of the woodwork just to make a point.

Just like what happened a few years ago at a clothing store. One employee said cover up....next you know you have hundred women whipping it out with their babies all over the store.

[strwbrrydvl]

Man on Man Dont ever do that...You might as well jump on a gernade than having to start dealing with Militant Brestfeeding mothers. I dont care either way Breastfeed or dont in public. I just know that when someone says that they all come out of the woodwork just to make a point.

Just like what happened a few years ago at a clothing store. One employee said cover up....next you know you have hundred women whipping it out with their babies all over the store.

And so they should.

Even if the woman doesn't drape a blankie over her shoulder breastfeeding can be done so discreetly it looks as though she is just snuggling her baby. The 'good' part of the breast is covered up by the baby and what remains showing is less cleavage than many women show off anyways.

Latching a baby on to a breast shouldn't be a concern to even the most modest of passerbys. Many people don't realize that a lactating woman has the rights to nurse her child or even hand express milk anywhere she wishes. Mothers giving their children nature's perfect food shouldn't be shunned for doing so, they should be applauded for not feeding their child a chemically formulated substitute.

If it makes somebody uncomfortable then they should look somewhere else.

[netfreak]

Man on Man Dont ever do that...You might as well jump on a gernade than having to start dealing with Militant Brestfeeding mothers. I dont care either way Breastfeed or dont in public. I just know that when someone says that they all come out of the woodwork just to make a point.

Just like what happened a few years ago at a clothing store. One employee said cover up....next you know you have hundred women whipping it out with their babies all over the store.

And so they should.

Even if the woman doesn't drape a blankie over her shoulder breastfeeding can be done so discreetly it looks as though she is just snuggling her baby. The 'good' part of the breast is covered up by the baby and what remains showing is less cleavage than many women show off anyways.

Latching a baby on to a breast shouldn't be a concern to even the most modest of passerbys. Many people don't realize that a lactating woman has the rights to nurse her child or even hand express milk anywhere she wishes. Mothers giving their children nature's perfect food shouldn't be shunned for doing so, they should be applauded for not feeding their child a chemically formulated substitute.

If it makes somebody uncomfortable then they should look somewhere else.

It's like a car crash, you HAVE to look. Sometimes it looks just as bad

[MAPearce]

Why can't women understand that other people may feel uncomfortable and just drape a shawl over the feeding one.

It's like a car crash, you HAVE to look. Sometimes it looks just as bad

I agree with the above statement and would hate to be called a pervert for catching a glimpse of something on full public display.

[strwbrrydvl]

Why can't women understand that other people may feel uncomfortable and just drape a shawl over the feeding one.

If it makes you uncomfortable then you're staring too hard.

Sometimes it is just far too hot to nurse under a blanket or when the baby gets a little bigger and starts grabbing at things then a shawl is far too distracting for the infant. Who really wants to each their lunch in a hot little tent?

[MAPearce]

If it makes you uncomfortable then you're staring too hard.

See what I mean ?? I said "catch a glimpse" and already I'm "staring" ??

[strwbrrydvl]

See what I mean ?? I said "catch a glimpse" and already I'm "staring" ??

It is not hard to look in another direction if something makes you uncomfortable. And really, when a baby is latched on there is not much to see anyways.

[strwbrrydvl]

When we trust the makers of baby formula more than we do our own ability to nourish our babies, we lose a chance to claim an aspect of our power as women. Thinking that baby formula is as good as breast milk is believing that thirty years of technology is superior to three million years of nature's evolution. Countless women have regained trust in their bodies through nursing their children, even if they weren't sure at first that they could do it. It is an act of female power, and I think of it as feminism in its purest form. ~Christine Northrup

In modern consumer society, the attack on mother-child eroticism took its total form; breastfeeding was proscribed and the breasts reserved for the husband's fetishistic delectation. At the same time, babies were segregated, put into cold beds alone and not picked up if they cried. ~Germaine Greer

Breastfeeding is an unsentimental metaphor for how love works, in a way. You don't decide how much and how deeply to love - you respond to the beloved, and give with joy exactly as much as they want. ~Marni Jackson

People need to understand that when they're deciding between breastmilk and formula, they're not deciding between Coke and Pepsi.... They're choosing between a live, pure substance and a dead substance made with the cheapest oils available. ~Chele Marmet

If a multinational company developed a product that was a nutritionally balanced and delicious food, a wonder drug that both prevented and treated disease, cost almost nothing to produce and could be delivered in quantities controlled by the consumers' needs, the very announcement of their find would send their shares rocketing to the top of the stock market. The scientists who developed the product would win prizes and the wealth and influence of everyone involved would increase dramatically. Women have been producing such a miraculous substance, breastmilk, since the beginning of human existence. ~Gabrielle Palmer

A baby nursing at a mother's breast... is an undeniable affirmation of our rootedness in nature. ~David Suzuki

[tsu]

I agree with the above statement and would hate to be called a pervert for catching a glimpse of something on full public display.

This I agree with, Women can breast feed in public or wear ridiculous skimpy clothing in public or whatever as long as they don't get offended because I accidentally looked at them for more than half a second.

[MAPearce]

See what I mean ?? I said "catch a glimpse" and already I'm "staring" ??

It is not hard to look in another direction if something makes you uncomfortable. And really, when a baby is latched on there is not much to see anyways.

I realize that there is nothing to see but as netfreak pointed out,like a car crash, you have to look. You can NEVER convince me that it's NOT human nature and by your very own statement about me "staring" leads me to believe that this is going to happen to many men who just happen to be near.

And I know that breastfeeding is important.I just don't think it should be THAT public.

[strwbrrydvl]

I agree with the above statement and would hate to be called a pervert for catching a glimpse of something on full public display.

This I agree with, Women can breast feed in public or wear ridiculous skimpy clothing in public or whatever as long as they don't get offended because I accidentally looked at them for more than half a second.

There is no offense there nor do I think a breastfeeding mother would be crying 'pervert' for somebody looking at them while they nurse their baby. The problem is being told to cover up because it makes Joe-blow uncomfortable - if it makes you uncomfortable then place your eyes elsewhere!

[strwbrrydvl]

I realize that there is nothing to see but as netfreak pointed out,like a car crash, you have to look. You can NEVER convince me that it's NOT human nature and by your very own statement about me "staring" leads me to believe that this is going to happen to many men who just happen to be near.

And I know that breastfeeding is important.I just don't think it should be THAT public.

The issue is not looking. The issue is being told to cover up while feeding a baby. I don't like seeing babies being bottle-fed but I would never tell a mother to put a blanket over their kid's head because it makes me uncomfortable.

[MAPearce]

The problem is being told to cover up because it makes Joe-blow uncomfortable -

Yeah "It's about Me and My Rights as a woman", she said as she demanded the man give up his seat and evert his eyes.

It has nothing to do with the thought of other people being uncomfortable.

Having said that,I'm going to ignore this "soon to be a gender bashing" thread. It has serious potential to become a gong show like all the pot threads.

[strwbrrydvl]

Yeah "It's about Me and My Rights as a woman", she said as she demanded the man give up his seat and evert his eyes.

That is not what happened in this case.

It has nothing to do with the thought of other people being uncomfortable.

Then what does it have to do with? If that bus driver didn't feel uncomfortable then why would he request that she cover up?

Having said that,I'm going to ignore this "soon to be a gender bashing" thread. It has serious potential to become a gong show like all the pot threads.

How would this become gender bashing? There are plently of men that feel just as strongly for breastfeeding as women are.

[OREZ]

I agree with the above statement and would hate to be called a pervert for catching a glimpse of something on full public display.

This I agree with, Women can breast feed in public or wear ridiculous skimpy clothing in public or whatever as long as they don't get offended because I accidentally looked at them for more than half a second.

There is no offense there nor do I think a breastfeeding mother would be crying 'pervert' for somebody looking at them while they nurse their baby. The problem is being told to cover up because it makes Joe-blow uncomfortable - if it makes you uncomfortable then place your eyes elsewhere!

That's a very fair comment. I totally agree. I have no problem with a mother breast feeding in public and in full view if necessary as long as she is not offended when she surprises an unsuspecting passer-by who responds, very naturally, with a "double take." Any nursing mother who would take offence at that is every bit as uptight and unreasonable as the person who would want her to cover up or hide herself.