Breastfeeding on subway provokes controversy
- By Wu Jin
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 2, 2015
Having forwarded an online snapshot of a mother breastfeeding her child on the subway to their official Weibo account (China's version of twitter) last Friday, bjtale.com, a non-profit organization and NGO, has been involved in a huge controversy.
The post was from a passenger riding the same subway car with the mother. Blaming the mother, unashamed of exposing her sexual organs in public, and mocking her, commenting that she must think the subway is her local rural bus on which she would breastfeed without thinking twice, the post has drawn enormous attention after it was transferred by bjtale.com.
To clarify its innocence, bjtale.com deleted the post and issued an apologetic announcement two days later, citing their role as a second-hand publisher of the snippet which triggered huge protest and criticisms.
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| This photo of a woman breast-feeding her child attracted much criticism when it was posted to the Weibo account of bjtale.com. [Photo/weibo.com] |
"Not a single line of the post was modified before it was reposted by us online," bjtale.com explained in the announcement. "Our jettison of the post has misled the audience to believe we were the source of the post and they protested strongly against us."
"We reposted the post not to oppose breastfeeding. On the contrary, we support and respect the mother's endeavor. We reposted the photo in a bid to call for the public to exchange views on whether it is appropriate to breastfeed a baby in public without any shield or cover," bjtale.com cited in its announcement.
Among thousands of comments following the post, a majority of online users showed their compassion to the mother. "We all grow up breastfed by our mothers," an online follower argued, "sometimes a mother has no option but to feed their babies when they are hungry."
In addition, some netizens also argued that there was no need to intentionally accentuate the difference of public transportation between urban and rural areas.
Hanjia Xiaoguaixue, the initiator of the dispute, apologized and deleted the post under the pressure of rigorous criticism. The intense online protest also led Bj.tale.com to shut down their Weibo account.
The dispute on whether to breastfeed babies in public has been a hot topic and attracted several rounds of heated debates. For example, last October a woman on a bus breastfed her baby who would have otherwise not been able to stop crying and she was blamed by the passengers as being without the sense of social stigma and lost face, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
The mother, whose online username is Curly Cat Meatball, said she was hurt by the criticism as she had tried hard to stop the baby howling, which, according to her, had obviously annoyed the passengers on bus. At last, she had no other option but to breastfeed her baby.
The mother argued, "If it was not for the baby, how would I be willing to expose my body to strangers?"
To facilitate breastfeeding while using public transportation, buses in Hangzhou have reserved a seat with curtains specially designed for young mothers in 2011. However, the service was cancelled soon because of its low utility, said Shao Jialing, the team leader of bus drivers K 20.
In order to resolve the embarrassment of a mother who needs to breastfeed their baby in public, there are clothes especially designed to protect them from exposing themselves. Additionally, hats for young babies are designed with large brims to help conceal the bust of their mothers.
China is not the only country confronted with this problem. A British mother used to appeal to municipal administration, requesting the officials to arrange a room for her in public so that she could breastfeed her younger son.
However, her request was rejected and she was advised to feed her baby in a restroom.
According to the Daily Mail, a man took a photo of a young mother breastfeeding her baby at a restaurant in Indiana on May 30, 2015, and uploaded the picture to an online social network which triggered controversy.
The debate surrounding whether or not young mothers should breastfeed in public has never stopped. A family was forced to get off a Delta Airlines flight on Oct. 13, 2006, because a mother was spotted breastfeeding her baby onboard.
On Nov. 21 that year, protests for the support of the family which sued Delta Airlines for discriminating against breastfeeding, a mother's right, occupied more than 30 airports in the United States. They urged the Congress to pass laws ensuring the rights of breastfeeding in public. Their efforts were eventually paid off, as Delta Airlines apologized for the event.
Once again, on May 12, 2011, young mothers convened in Sao Paulo, Brazil to protest for their right to breastfeed babies in public.
To facilitate breastfeeding, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has opened rooms in public places and office buildings so that mothers will be less embarrassed when feeding their babies in public.
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