More Women Asked to Breastfeed in Bathrooms

The Lactivist talks today about an Ohio woman who was visiting her imprisoned husband and was told that the filthy bathroom was her only choice if she wanted to breastfeed her 8-month-old child. According to The Huntsville Times, the woman had been allowed to use an empty room on previous visits

Before anyone suggests that she should have just taken care of it before she left for the prison, the woman had already spent 18 hours on a bus just to get to the prison. We’re not talking about a short, predictable errand that can be worked around here, not to mention that babies should be able to eat when they’re hungry. The woman says:

“I didn’t expect to be able to nurse in front of my husband and the other prisoners,” McKenzie said. “That would be rude because they are not sexually active, and it would be rude for a woman to nurse her child in front of them.”

I’m troubled by the idea that the woman herself was suggesting that breastfeeding is some overwhelmingly sexual act that makes men of the world unable to control themselves. It doesn’t exactly do anything to reduce breastfeeding stigma, although it does weight things in her favor against Brian Corbett, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections, who said, “I certainly respect and have empathy for her to breast-feed in a clean environment, but our priority is public safety.” Yes, public safety. Because breastfeeding is so overwhelmingly sexual that men can’t control themselves, even if they can’t actually see any boob. Yes, yes, we know. Argh. She just wanted to duck into a private room for a moment, which she had been allowed to do in the past, not to personally breastfeed all the prisoners.

McKenzie also states that the guard asked her, “You wouldn’t go into Hardee’s or McDonald’s to nurse your child, would you?” Actually, yes, she could, if she needed to. Apparently neither McKenzie nor Uppity Prison Guard were aware of Alabama state law, permitting women to breastfeed anywhere (public or private) that women otherwise are allowed to be. I’m not clear on the logic of an analogy between unoccupied-room-in-a-prison and fast food restaurants, either. The Department of Corrections is seeking an opinion from the state’s Attorney General on how this law applies to prisons.