This story has me a bit mystified, but it promises that our steady stream of bizarre political stories will continue unabated in 2016. There is a controversy in New Hampshire where Republican Rep. Josh Moore addressed a proposed exception to nursing mothers in a bill to criminalize showing breasts in public. Moore tweeted “If it’s a woman’s natural inclination to pull her (breast) out in public, then you should have no problem with a man’s inclination to stare at it and grab it.” It was clearly meant as a joke but he was not the only one to attack a female legislator who raised the issue of criminalizing breastfeeding under the law.
Equally curious is the objection that reportedly led to the tweet from another legislator. State Rep. Amanda Bouldin, a Democrat, objected that the law was sexist for singling out women and did not include an exception for nursing: “”The very least you could do is protect a mother’s right to FEED her child.”
Moore could have simply criticized Bouldin for not reading the bill which already had such an exception. Instead, he sent this weird tweet.
As if to show that Moore could not just assume the title of creepiest legislator, State Rep. Al Baldasaro, a Republican, also tweeted: “No disrespect, but your nipple would be the last one I would want to see … You want to turn our family beach’s into a pervert show.”
Given the past problems of Republicans dragging down their party in election years with sexist or misogynistic comments, Moore likely has Republicans cringing in this early primary state.
I am assuming that Merrimack New Hampshire is the only district in the state without a single female voter or Moore may wish to tweet less.
Source: WMUR
Breast feeding is a natural and desirable healthy way to feed you child. The bonding between mothe and child is very important,not to mention the nutritional aspect of it. Not all women are good at being able to breast feed either.
That being said. There is a discrete way to breast feed in public and then there is the whip it out exhibitionist method. The discrete method is to find a quiet spot, if you can or move to a less central area, lift your blouse and possibly drape a small light weight blanket or shawl over your breast and the baby while your child feeds and hopefully :-)…soon falls nicely asleep. Everyone knows what is happening, but big deal. This way while at a party, at a bbq, on a train or even at a restaurant, you can continue doing what you were doing, carry on conversation, eat, sip that glass of wine or do whatever and life goes on. This is the polite and courteous way and everyone is happy.
The other militant, exhibitionist manner is to whip out that big extended vein popping fleshy baby bottle and let everyone see the’ full monty’ without regard to other people’s feelings or sensibilities. After all YOU are the most important person in the room….right? Who cares what other people think. It is all about YOU YOU YOU and your rights and NO one else has rights or feelings.
Less you think that I’m some sort of a prude, I was raised in a naturist (nudist) family where nudity is not any big deal. Spent much time in organized nudist camps as a child and as an adult often have been skinny dipping and enjoy the outdoors au natural with others. However, there is a time and a place. In a public setting or one that hasn’t been set aside for nudists it is just rude and disrespectful to “let it all hang out”.
Meh.
A lot of this problem goes away with letting businesses decide what behavior they will and will not tolerate in their establishment.
Good point about the milk being ready before you go out and baby may become hungry. Not everyone was a boy scout, so most folks don’t think ‘be prepared’.
Maybe that should be the girl scout motto, too.
“The Scout Motto is: BE PREPARED which means you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your DUTY.”
Doesn’t fit the victim culture…
Gary, In a classical narcissistic move, our Prez in trying to remain relevant, is again acting unconstitutionally regarding guns. I think we would have been better off if he were raised by wolves instead of grandparents. Wolves have structure.
I am noticing a libertarian sensibility here on this thread.
From both the rightists and leftists.
Let us hope the libertarian commonsensical approach to public policy, like gay marriage, increasing gun rights, and marijuana legalization continues.
Con men are RepubliCons. It is no longer the Party of Lincoln. It is the Party of Cheney. Or however ya spull Cheeney. Rhymes with weeny. Looks like one too. Smells like one too.
All I had to see was Republican Rep.. Seems republicans don’t want government managing their lives unless it’s government designed to force people, especially women and minorities, to behave as they see fit ‘morally’.
Breastfeeding can be (and is) done respectfully and with little impact on those who find it repugnant. A properly placed blanket or shawl covers most but your imagination. It’s not as if all women will be ripping off their clothes to slam two kids against her breasts in a shopping mall bench or bus stop.
As the old saying goes, Democrats want to get into your wallet, but Republicans want to get into your bedroom. Take my wallet please, but stay out of my damn bedroom.
DavidM is correct. It’s time to slash all govt. in half, adjust to the changes, then slash it in half again. That would be a good start. All politicians and govt. workers have WAY too much time on their hands. I’ve been in govt. buildings on a daily basis for business. lot’s of people just sitting around scratching their asses and balls.
Quite simply people in a public position need to be more careful
The Science Geek
http://www.thesciencegeek.org
That first sentence mispulled Josh. Not Jose. Josh. As in Josh by gosh.
The mental hospitals are full of men named Jose who tweet.
Those who can: do.
Those who can’t: tweet.
Those who can’t tweet: tweet teachers.
issacbasonkavichi: You are correct. When nude beaches began to be accepted in the Netherlands the opposition warned about the bad effect all of these nude female breasts would have on children. The reality, as expected by every child psychologist, became that children continued to build sand castles and only grown-ups ogled occasionally.
Go to a beach in France and notice that the men are not ogling all the bare breasts. Some of the breasts invite one to look away but some are downright beautiful. My first wife had a great rack and when we took friends from Canada to the beach and she sunned herself it was a moment frozen in time.
America has a puritanical streak that is slowly disappearing with contradiction. If a girl flaunts her body then she is offering either something naturally beautiful or perverse, depending on the viewer. Unfortunately the same is so with tattoos, our great artistic body blight of the moment.
Having spent much of my life as an artist I always responded when caught staring that I had an artist’s eye and found beauty in most things: trees, clouds, rocks, and you Miss.
These politicians have too much money and too much time on their hands. We need to take away their money and foolishness like this would not be going on. We have enough retired people who could volunteer their time for public office. Taxes need to be slashed so their budgets are not so high. Then we would not be having them micromanage all of our affairs.
Micromanage!!! I agree with Darren.
I’m actually with you, Tin, on this one. There’s a time and a place for everything. Lots of natural, normal bodily functions, and not all are fit for public purview, for various reasons. There’s really only one question: if a woman, who does NOT choose to breastfeed, has the ability to prepare, ahead of time, pre-filled bottles of ready-made formula for her infant child to consume on-the-go, why is it that someone, who DOES choose to breastfeed, is incapable of the same preparation by expressing her milk ahead of time and carrying those same bottles?
If there is one thing I cannot stand is politicians wanting to micromanage and control every aspect of life.
It is not difficult for them to focus on fiscal and relevant topics to their duty to better the state’s actual benefit to citizens, but instead they often tend to focus on their own pet-peeves such as this. It is not only a waste of time, but a form of petty tyranny in of itself.
Yet there is small benefit to this. When they devote their legislative sessions to arguing matters such as this they are not united in crafting far more damaging legislation.
I’m sure that I’m not alone in thinking that breasts are made for the purpose of providing the best for babies? If a baby is crying because of hunger then, to my mind anyway, it’s preferable to feed the child and stop the crying before the complaints from ignorant people start. I have no objection to any woman “whipping” one out to feed a child regardless of location. But then again I can also tolerate a woman sharing her opinion on any topic without feeling threatened by her. I certainly wouldn’t dream of ogling or grabbing a breast unless in private. God bless our politicians for making this an issue in our lives.
I have never had a problem with women breastfeeding. I grew up in a community with a lot of mothers birthin’ lots of babies.
Not all women believe that breastfeeding in public is appropriate. Yes, it’s “natural,” but so is urinating, for that matter. And I really don’t want that done in my presence by a stranger, even if he can do it “discretely.” But there is an aggressive movement of younger, millennial women who seem to be trying to force their “right” to breastfeed at any time, in any location. I feel for the owners of coffee shops, restaurants and so forth who lose customers when these women show up en masse to breastfeed, as paying customers get up and leave. So if some pervs hang around to ogle the breasts, well, I suppose that is “natural” as well…..
Is that a photo of the guy in the dark suit? The one who mentioned something about grabbing? Pray tell, what, on God’s green earth, is he grabbing in that photo?