So who'd be up for some political activism? Sign up here....

[theUrbanDryadLovesCremeEggs]

ok, you might've seen me bang on about this on other threads, but i think it is absurd that it is not illegal to harass a mother who is nursing in public.

i'm thinking of organising a mass public breastfeed, somewhere like Speaker's Corner, with loads of families, kids, babies, picnic etc. it would be very peaceful, no placards, no speeches, just a load of people, chilling in the sunshine.

i'd try to get the Press involved, issue a statement, raise awareness and let the Government know that this is an issue that won't go away.

i'm going to have a chat with my local LLL advisor at the Baby Cafe, see what she thinks. but in the meantime, i would love to know what other people think of the idea, how many people would be willing to come to something like that and show their support.

TIA

or this one
or this one is unreligious & equally beautiful.

lovely painting lizzzombie and might i say, what a well nourished bubs!!

sat 19th sounds ok for me let me know details and will pass them on to all at bf group and others

I found this one on the internet. Not totally sure where it is though.

Erected in 1878, this statue was originally a drinking fountain at the rear of the Royal Exchange representing motherhood. It shows a woman breast feeding a child, with another seeking attention at her knee. Jules Dalou was the sculptor. It was originally housed in a stone canopy similar to another in the close vicinity, without it?s statue installed (see below left). This may have been air raid damage.

motherhood

There is a wonderful painting in the public area of the house of commons which depicts a woman bf. I was there for a meeting recently with representatives from other breastfeeding related organisations. We spotted it on the way out and took our picture in front of it only to be stopped by a guard as you are not aloud photos there.

Anyway, it would be a very "political" place to stage your demonstration. Particularly as on the 16th of that week there is going to be a huge launch of the BF Manifesto that I linked to further down this thread at the House of Commons to get MP's to sign up to it.

Alternatively, there is a statue of a woman bf in the entrance way to the V&A (I think - or was it the British Museum?)

For something totally different, why not consider London Zoo? The new gorilla kingdom area has the most wonderful statue of a gorilla breastfeeding its baby. You could all sit down and feed there making the statement that if it is acceptable for animals, why not humans as we are all mammals too?

IlanaK - that gorilla statue idea is fantastic. I love it. Makes me wish I could hop on a train & join you for your demo. Good luck with it girls x

This is an old pic, but given how stunning it is maybe Jerry Hall is worth approaching if you want some celeb support??

Don't think I'll make it to London Urban but would totally want to support it - at very idea of harrassing BFers and I ain't even one of them ! (Yet.)

I love the City one - why don't you have it there ? Although more likely to get crowds watching near Hyde Park than the City - City will be near deserted on a Sat.

If you have it in the middle of the week around lunch time in the City when the pin stripes come out to lunch ! I always fancied doing bf in the middle of the lobby of my ex-law firm, it would have had lots of guppy fish staring !

Speaking as a city type, I'm not sure if this is the right target. The barrow boys although rather fewer than they used to be will either letch or ignore, and the older blokes typically have kids and aren't the small minded types who give nursing mothers grief are often already on your side.

This is simply too unfocused. If you're going to do this properly you need to find a company that has behaved badly to nursing mothers, and make their life hard.
Organise a "suck in" in their corporate headquarters or flagship store.

Corporates hate embarrassment, and this is the basis of a good story for the media. A camera crew will not only advance the cause, but also make sure they don't try to get heavy.

A couple of dozen nursing mothers will make for a good human interest story. The Sun is quite possibly your best starting point. They have a professional interest in breasts, and have been very supportive of breast cancer charities. Would be the first people I'd call, big audience and although they do topless pictures are actually very coy about anything else.

I have breastfed all over the show and never once had any comments

If I saw a load of women with placards feeding en mass I would think they were a load of weirdo's tbh

There is a poster for a Feed In or something in my doctors surgery, Little Angels or somebody organises them every now and again, dunno, just something I wouldn't ever consider.

Sun readers are just the sort of people who are NOT interested in bf. Look at page 3, the only tits they are interested in are the type you stick on the wall to look at and fantisise about !

Also any publicity through the Sun will be negative, not positive. They will portray you as a bunch of raving mad hippies, lentil-eating do-gooders with too much time on you hands.

You need a paper that is bf frinedly, so any photos and stories that follow will be supportive and informative.

I think a feed-in by say 20 women in the lobby of any City firm is an excellent idea actually. The problem is the security guards will get you out pronto if you haven't arrived there for a meeting.

City firsm are generally not maternity/bf friendly which is why I think they are a good target, but you are just not going to be able to get in through the door.

While I support this initiative I would not be comfortable effectively trespassing but would gladly do Hyde Park or the Zoo or any other (semi) public place. Agree with Yellowrose about the Sun...not sure they could be trusted to portray us as Mum's who want the best for our children and not to be judged mad by our society.

Yellowrose, I said The Sun, not it's readers...
This should be a hearts and minds issue, and if you feel that a particular paper's readership is on the wrong side, then it's them you should be trying to reach. As it happens I disagree with your basic premise that Sun readers are the opposition.

It is a critical mistake made made by many groups that they go for making themselves feel good or looking cool to other members, rather than their objective. The most depressing case in point has been the decay of the NSPCC which often gives the impression of being more into "issues" than work.

Also yellowrose is also wrong about the lobbies of what she calls "big banks". There's many ways of working this, I'm a pimp in the City, I can think of at least one large bank where with a bit of guile one could get a dozen feeding mothers onto their trading floor.

But again I say it's pointless. Banks aren't decision formers, and the ones I deal with are actually quite supportive of mothers. For instance at least 2 of them I can state for a fact make big play of an emergency childcare service for when parents arrangments go tits up. Not cheaply done, even slightly, enough that one parent saw it as a bit of a treat for their kids.

Not saying all firms are like that, and if there was a City firm that harassed nursing mothers, then I'd see the point.

But what I can't my head round is how many mothers would bring breastfed babies to banks, even if they were actively told to do so.
I think we can find a better target.

The Sun is consistently good on breastfeeding issues - they get bits of it a bit wrong, and of course they tend to highlight sensationalism when they can, but in my files I have several clippings from The Sun showing support for breastfeeding mothers, including a very good feature about how stupid it is to object to breastfeeding in public.

I am personally not terribly in favour of making a spectacle of breastfeeding - breastfeeding is just something mothers do, isn't it? But deliberately making a nuisance of yourself in the foyer of a City firm (yes, very relavant to most women's lives....NOT) just gives people the excuse to say you are getting in the way/making a noise whatever....and unless you can target a firm that has banned breastfeeding in some way, what on earth is the point?

A nice day out, somewhere pleasant, where mothers and babies would naturally be - that makes more sense.

Don't write off The Sun, though

Don't you have to get permission to gather in a public place if there's loads of you?

Not sure who from but isn't there something called a public order act?

I don't think you have to at speakers corner, I could be wrong

Hi My local bf support group has a bf picnic every year in National BF week in the local park to raise awareness of public bfing. I have been twice and its always been a good event that the press have suported. Last years event made particularly good press because a local city councillor who happened to be a bfing mother had been asked to stop feeding in a branch of McDonalds. She talked about that experience and the importance of the planned legislation in an interview. I'm too far from london to support your event but hope it goes well.

DC, I never talked about "big banks", I said City firms, meaning City companies generically. Please read the post properly.

I don't know about pimping, not my sort of career , I used to be a corporate lawyer in a large City law firm.

tiktok, I also NEVER suggested that any one should trespass or barge into a City firm. In fact I said you can't because of the high security there, so please don't twist my words, it is not what I suggested at all. I half-jokingly said I fancied doing this in my ex-law firm that had a very dim view of motherhood and women who allow a child to bf beyond 6 months to 1 year, I NEVER suggested everyone else should do it too

Ds is 2.9 and bf a few times per day, but he never asks for it in public any more so it is very unlikley that I would force myself into their lobby and then force ds to bf in public !!

I think publicity through the Sun is a waste of time, I stick to that view. Most women do not read the Sun, nor do most women work in the City. So neither should be PRIME targets.

Hello Urban - Would love to join in - just about to drop, so would love to flop my baps out in public to stand up for nursing mother's rights! power to the People!

Can't do May 19th though.

What a fab idea, Urban.

Think you would get loads of publicity. I'm not BF at the moment but if there was one near me then I'd def lend support. Would be difficult to travel to London with 2 toddlers. There's a BF picnic near to us each year, too but has always been on a day when I've had to work so never mad it.

Think would be best to stick to somewhere public though. Not fair causing littlies stress by being hauled out of some city firm.

Here are some images of american 'nurse ins'

I would be up for it and I would travel to london

I think its about time Breast feeding wasnt frowned upon and think we should have the right to do it any where

yellowrose you [i]can[/i] trespass in City firms, it's not even all that hard. The question is whether you want to.

I think you ought to read my posts as well... Maybe the reader audit figures for the Sun as well.
Most [i]people[/i] do not read the Sun, not just most women as you say. No newspaper has a majority of the population.
However, it several times has more women reading it that both sexes put together who read the Guardian.

The audience you want are people who don't agree with you, else what you have is the sort of political masturbation that killed off socialism, where you address everything to your own cosy clique.