The Continuing Delta Breastfeeding Saga...
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Friday, November 17, 2006
There's now a petition setup at MomsRising.org that asks Delta to reevaluate their policies and that asks Congress to add protection for breastfeeding moms to the Civil Rights of 1964.A petition not quite lactivist enough for ya? Well, how bout a phone call to the CEO of Delta? ;) You can reach Gerald Grinstein, Delta CEO, at (404) 715-2600. Just press 0 to get the operator and ask to speak with Mr. Grinstein. While you're on the line, you can also try asking for Lee Macenczak, Delta's Chief of Customer Service.
The story is also rapidly flying through the mainstream media. When I first wrote about it, the Burlington Free Press seemed to be the only mainstream media source covering the story. By yesterday, it had spread through across blog and online discussion forums at lightening speed. This morning, Google news is showing 139 news stories about it, including one in USA Today. In fact, the story is now spreading around the globe, which certainly can't be making Delta (which operates International flights) very happy. Too bad, so sad.
Great posts from out in the Blogosphere keep popping up as well. Keda at Mamahog says:
if someone asked you to cover yourself with a blanket while settling down to a meal at your favourite restaurant, because they felt uncomfortable looking at you due to some weird juvenile complex they had, would you do it?
if we continue to be ashamed of our own bodies, of providing the best food for our children and of seeing other bodies and human contact in it's most innocent form, we are not only repressing ourselves, but making sure that the next generation has the same hang ups. and all the underlying sexual predatory danger, and inequality that goes with it.
The Queen of Spain blog points out the idiocy of Delta's "cover up with a blanket" policy in a different way...
And the blanket. On our flight from Atlanta to WV our flight attendant TOLD US to put our blankets on our seats for the next passenger on the next flight. YOU WANT ME TO COVER MY CHILD WITH THAT???
You know the more I think on this the more upset I get. Usually with nursing in public type stories there's always that issue of "well was she being discreet or did she whip her shirt off" and that's what gets debated in the media. That sucks as it totally takes the focus off of the REAL issue which is that babies have the right to eat. period.
But when you consider the fact that Gillette was in the second to the last row of the airplane, sitting in the window seat with her husband next to her...you've got to ask yourself...could ANYONE on the plane other than those who chose to walk to the VERY back of the plane or who happened to be sitting in the aisle seat directly across from her have had ANY chance of seeing her? No. Delta planes are not exaction bastions of open space...in fact, about the only way to see what someone is doing is to stand in the aisle right next to their seat.
So this has nothing to do with ANYTHING except for the fact that some Delta flight attendant is apparently a big old prude. Add in the fact that Delta and Freedom are willing to back her up instead of towing the usual business line of "Our policy is to support nursing mothers, unfortunately one of our staffers was not clear on policy...blah blah blah..."
Labels: In the News, Lactivism, Nursing in Public
I saw this story linked on the blog of a friend of mine, and she'd got it from somewhere completely different to here. So yes, the news is very definitely spreading. :)
There are nursing moms who HAVE NOT been kicked off Delta planes. It is the attitude of the flight attendant that leads to moms and babies being kicked off. They are not encouraged by the airline to kick moms off. I nursed my daughter until the age of two and several times on Delta and was never kicked off. And this was 24 years ago! It's not the airline it's the "hang-up" of the stewardess. Believe me, some women have psychological problems with it. If you want to encourage women to breastfeed, do it in a positive way, not a negative way. The political climate in our country is socially very conservative and people with that point of view are incredibly intolerant of breast-feeding in public. Please consider my point of view. Study psychology and womb-envy, and exposing any part of the body no matter what the purpose (which is noble in this case ). The fact is that this is not Europe. Don't protest, encourage!
To note, encouraging is exactly what we were doing today at the Columbus airport. We didn't carry signs, we didn't chant, we didn't make a fuss.
We were simply 13 moms sitting calmly and peacefully white chatting with each other and nursing our children. The goal was not to raise a ruckus, it was to show people that moms can nurse without it being weird/strange/offensive. It was to show women that they don't have to hide when it's time to feed their children. It was about making sure that at least one mom feels more confident about nursing in public because she's seen other women doing it.
THAT is the only way that we'll see change in this country.
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