Communication on new building - room available for 'chest feeding'

Ask them how many breastfeeding transmen they have as opposed to how many breastfeeding women. Ask them why they want to insult the breastfeeding women for the non existent chestfeeders because chestfeeding is not possible.

Chest feeding is a ridiculous and inaccurate term: the baby feeds from the breast and not the chest. And men have breast tissue, too, so I've never understood the issue with the word breast.

On the contrary. Have you forgotten there are male people out there who are feeding their infants a substance secreted by their own breasts that has not been adequately investigated? And isn't 'chest feeding' including doing so from a tube with milk that is taped so that a baby will suckle the nipple and get the milk?

This signage does indeed open the room up to any male person who does this. And as pp have rightly pointed out, women could demand a space set aside for them to be specifically for breast feeding.

However, you seem to be very keen on women ignoring that this really does potentially open up their spaces and trying to dismiss their concerns rather than acknowledge them and contribute something of value to find a solution. Why is that?

Why are you, a man, so keen on dismissing female people's concerns so often?

I think they should go full-on batshit and call it the 'Chester-draws Feeding Room.'
Wardrobes not welcome.
FFS.

Maybe if transmen are so triggered by the term 'breast-feeding' that they find it so upsetting, perhaps the grown-up job of being a Mum isn't for them?

You might find this research paper useful to gain a better understanding.

https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0907-y

Quite! And surely if you're a trans man, using said breasts to feed a baby is about as far from being manly as you can get. I don't understand how you could want to identify as a man but choose to breastfeed a baby 🤯

I don't think I'm the ignorant one here. No trans women would talk about "chest feeding" a baby. This is for trans men.

Men have breasts. Men get breast cancer too. Men do not get chest cancer.

I can’t tell you how much I hate the term chest feeding.

You can take that up with all the men who desperately try to squeeze some liquid out of their nipples in order to pretend they're breastfeeding their babies.

They're going to be perfectly happy with the term 'breastfeeding' though. 'Chestfeeding' really is for the (dubious) benefit of trans mothers.

Wouldn't it be more sensible if everyone remembered that males have breasts too? You could get breast cancer. A transman can. 'Chestfeeding' is simply anatomically nonsensical. Chests don't produce milk.

I used to think it was worth it to “out-woke” these idiots but I don’t think it is anymore. Firstly, they’re too stupid and woke to get the irony, and second, it’s vital that a strong objection is made, to say a big loud No otherwise they can ( and have in the past) just turn around and claim no one minded.

There is no such thing as chest feeding. Just No.

You can take that up with all the men who desperately try to squeeze some liquid out of their nipples in order to pretend they're breastfeeding their babies.

Shut up, women! What do you know about feeding babies anyway? Don’t you know that it’s perfectly possible to use your CHEST? Get with the programme!

Oooh look fellow females, a MAN is here to explain something he doesn't know anything about. He has clearly done zero research on the topic but he has a penis so I think we should listen to him! Our ladybrains will thank us later.
Never mind all those articles on transwomen taking domperidone to stimulate lactation. Can't be true because a man said it isn't!

So many people are desperate to be outraged. It says “breast and chest feeding.” So, a breast feeding room. To be inclusive to trans men, it also refers to chest feeding. It has nothing to do with trans women.

If it’s a room for anyone to feed their infant, then they have no need to refer to lactation at all.

I imagine they envisaged chest feeding was the inclusive way of referring to females identifying as TM who would find reference to their breasts triggering or offensive (though why that doesn't extend to using them to feed their children is a mystery to me..). I doubt they were thinking of TW attempting to feed fetishise babies - though of course it does now reflect that.

How many staff or students bring their babies to campus though? Is there really a need for the room? I can understand a need to provide expressing facilities - is that what this includes, in which case the sign appears to exclude that.

And of course @LostMySocks makes a very valid point that women should be able to feed their babies anywhere on campus they choose but sometimes it’s helpful especially in the early days to have a quiet spot.

@LostMySocks you lose me with your first paragraph though! Trans identifying yadder yadder - just plain old women/ parents works.

Not sure "chest feeding" is protected. This was just added to the Equality Hub page:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-equality-act-2010-amendment-regulations-2023

Any employer needs to comply with the law

I understand the rationale of “out-woking” and in some situations it could be quite funny but this is actually serious and makes many women’s blood BOIL.

This is about babies needing to be fed in a quiet, clean space whether by breast or bottle and about the parent feeding the baby - although wondering how many male academics take their baby in to work?? - feeling comfortable and unhurried.

A baby’s need to be fed shouldn’t be hijacked by genderist ideology and its meaningless phrases. You may as well say “toe-feed” or “knee-feed” given the absolute nonsense that is “chest-feed”.

Please call it out, using plain language and common sense. Everyone, absolutely everyone around you will agree, and be relieved that someone has spoken out. It’s actually very refreshing to speak out - keeps the blood pressure from rising too high - and perhaps you’ll make new friends in doing so.

While I think that chest feeding is a silly term in this case are they thinking about trans identifying females who identify as non binary or even as men rather than trans identifying men? The former is much more likely and we must support women and their babies however they identify.

If you are responding it's probably also important to flag that women are free to feed their babies wherever and however they wish so although a feeding room is provided as an option they can also breast feed anywhere appropriate on campus. By appropriate I mean anywhere they can be legally and sensibly (so not the toilet and maybe not in a work area where you wouldn't be expecting someone to be sitting down)

I'd imagine some religious women would need a single sex space else they won't be able to work while lactating (whether feeding directly or expressing).

Following on from the "infant feeding room", could you suggest that breastfeeding women need their own room, as a single-sex space, for private when feeding their baby, as opposed to being in with bottle-feeding fathers?

Or just go full Terf and complain that this is illegal sex discrimination and a breach of the Equality Act 2010?

Will there be babies at work to be fed? Or is it actually an expressing room? In which case that opens up a whole other option for naming, although I quite like Milking Parlour.