LadyFlynt
Puritan Board Doctor
This did call for it's own thread. I'm placing this in the Family Forum as it's not just a woman's issue. Dad's should be permitted to weigh in. Also, there was a statement about feminism made in the other thread...(1) this is NOT a feminist issue, in fact, there are even feminists that are anti-breastfeeding and anti-NIP. There are liberals on both sides of the issue as well as conservatives. (2) please don't equate me with a feminist. Anyone on this board that knows me, knows that I am about as far from a feminist as you get.
Cont'd:
I'm not saying blankets are bad. I'm saying they should not be required. Just as much as some women feel more comfortable or feel the need to keep a blanket handy for nursing, there are also women for whom a blanket is uncomfortable or more of a hassle (I'm one of these latter women, but have had friends that varied on the issue, but agreed that it should be THEIR personal decision, not that of another).
From studying history, I would say that most women did not feel the need to cover themselves. Granted there were those that may have with a shawl (something they were already wearing) and that it was most likely due more to assisting their child to sleep or from distractions or even to keep them warmer (shawls used to be as large enough to double as a blanket if need me...the Welsh Nursing Shawl is an example 6ft x 6ft and folded in half triangularly).
This need to "hide away" came in Victorian era of the middle to upper classes (America) where a woman wouldn't rarely be seen if she was showing in her pregnancy. The mennonites carry some of this extremism in a book on the family that not only insists that a woman leave the room to nurse, but also that children should not be present when changing a babe's diapers.
Fast forward to the World Wars and the Depression. There are photos online (trying to refind them) that show women nursing. These were taken by photographers that were documenting these three events and the daily lives of people during. Much more breast is exposed than we are used to seeing during nursing in present day. Women didn't lift their blouses, they undid them from the top down (one picture shows a woman nursing in a train station). Others also wore traditional clothing and appropriate underpinnings that only permitted them to actually "pull out their breast" from the top and nurse. This was seen as feeding a child. Bottles weren't always available, pumps were unheard of, and formula was for the upper classes.
Cont'd:
I'm not saying blankets are bad. I'm saying they should not be required. Just as much as some women feel more comfortable or feel the need to keep a blanket handy for nursing, there are also women for whom a blanket is uncomfortable or more of a hassle (I'm one of these latter women, but have had friends that varied on the issue, but agreed that it should be THEIR personal decision, not that of another).
From studying history, I would say that most women did not feel the need to cover themselves. Granted there were those that may have with a shawl (something they were already wearing) and that it was most likely due more to assisting their child to sleep or from distractions or even to keep them warmer (shawls used to be as large enough to double as a blanket if need me...the Welsh Nursing Shawl is an example 6ft x 6ft and folded in half triangularly).
This need to "hide away" came in Victorian era of the middle to upper classes (America) where a woman wouldn't rarely be seen if she was showing in her pregnancy. The mennonites carry some of this extremism in a book on the family that not only insists that a woman leave the room to nurse, but also that children should not be present when changing a babe's diapers.
Fast forward to the World Wars and the Depression. There are photos online (trying to refind them) that show women nursing. These were taken by photographers that were documenting these three events and the daily lives of people during. Much more breast is exposed than we are used to seeing during nursing in present day. Women didn't lift their blouses, they undid them from the top down (one picture shows a woman nursing in a train station). Others also wore traditional clothing and appropriate underpinnings that only permitted them to actually "pull out their breast" from the top and nurse. This was seen as feeding a child. Bottles weren't always available, pumps were unheard of, and formula was for the upper classes.