Students at American University were in for quite the first lecture in their Sex, Gender and Culture class. Professor Adrienne Pine, a new mother, brought her infant daughter to class, and started breastfeeding during her lecture. While some people are supportive of the mom, others believe it was not the time or place to breastfeed.
Professor Pine was a bit annoyed that this regular parenting activity was deemed newsworthy by the school newspaper.
“I slapped my palm on my forehead in frustration. What I wanted to say was “˜Who cares? Do university students really need to be so mollycoddled that they should not see something I do on public transportation nearly every day?’”
The professor event wrote a post about it on Counter Punch about her irritation and frustration on the topic. In it, she explains how she felt when she received an e-mail from the university’s newspaper assistant. “I was shocked and annoyed that this would be considered newsworthy, and at the anti-woman implications inherent in the email’s tone.”
Many moms breastfeed in public and are supported by the general public. However, this setting was a little different, and the professor’s defensive stance brings to question whether it was really appropriate or not.
BMWK – We have some very diehard breastfeeding advocates that read the site and so are we. But is that appropriate for work? We want to hear from you?
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