in a society where female nipples are consistently sexualised and breastfeeding rates are already rock-bottom.
And THIS is the real point here. It's the big grey elephant standing in the middle of this particular room, and it's trumpeting its head off.
The problem with this thread is that on a number of occasions when someone has said 'I didn't use any form of cover' and given a reason as to why they didn't, those reasons have been perceived as judgemental against other women. Worse, defensive posters have started flinging out accusations that those people are 'vile', or 'repellent', or 'attention seeking', and have become quite aggressive in their responses.
I was a baby-wearer who adhered to TICKS guidelines, which made me very aware and worried that placing a cover over the baby's head might restrict breathing. A new mum's paranoia it might have been, but this is a genuine reason (amongst other, social ones) why I rejected the idea of a cover. And having been asked the specific question as to why there might be anything negative about them, I'm going to say so. I'm at quite the loss here as to why such responses are being perceived as somehow hateful.
OP has asked for the topic of sexualising breasts not to be mentioned. I considered adhering to that request; it's her thread, after all, but when someone puts these debates into the public domain then they have to expect these issues will be discussed. Western society does sexualise breasts. That's the reason so many women feel uncomfortable feeding in public in the first place, and if they need a shawl to feel able to do that, then I say 'whatever works for them'. The claim that this is making their feeding more conspicuous rather than less is beside the point. Why shouldn't breastfeeding be conspicuous? It's been the norm since pretty much the dawn of our species.
That society sexualises BF is definitely a problem, which IMO, yet again, is being turned into women's specific problem. If we want to deal with that issue by either sticking two fingers up and gathering a breastfeeding protest group to sit outside establishments who break the law by asking patrons to feed in the loos, or feeding openly but discreetly with a top, or using a shawl or cover, all those are legitimate responses.
I don't particularly care what other mothers feed their babies, and I don't care how. I DO care about the stigmatising of a perfectly normal bodily function, and about the fact that the age-old issue of the social taboo is nearly always directed against women.