I think you're missing an important point here. It is perfectly reasonable for a restaurant to have a rule against making a disturbance. Breastfeeding in an openly obtrusive way might, in an extreme case, be considered a disturbance, as might talking, laughing, walking (imagine enacting "the Ministry of Silly Walks"), and many other common functions. In any of these cases the management would have the right to discreetly request the patron to calm down and respect the fellow diners. This does not mean that I think that walking, talking, eating, or breastfeeding are offensive. They are not, unless they are done in an exceedingly extravagant manner. Frankly, I think the likelihood of breastfeeding being done in this way is quite miniscule.
If a nursing mother flung wide her blouse and made a deliberate show of it I think it would be legitimate to ask her to be more discreet. But the idea of asking a mother who is feeding her child in a normal, natural, and unobtrusive way to leave the room is, I think, humiliating and disgusting.
At a certain point it is legitimate to simply say "deal with it". And if a person was really upset by a normally discreet nursing mother, those words would be entirely appropriate. If I have an odd fixation which convinces me that the consumption of spaghetti is offensive, do I have the right to suggest that the diners at the next table consume their spaghetti in the anteroom? |
