An official Quebec government petition was created after I was kicked out of a store for breastfeeding. On May 3, it was presented to the Quebec National Assembly (p. 223) by Carole Poirier, provincial MNA for the Parti Québecois in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. The petition had 5696 names including both the online and paper signatures. Not bad!
Tag: activism
When I first put up this blog, I thought maybe 30 people would read it. And I would know them all. Try almost 14,000 so far. And I definitely don’t want to know them all.
Why? Because some of them are truly horrible people.
I was kicked out of a store for breastfeeding and this blog has been a great way to get my story out. It’s also been truly inspiring the wonderful positive response I’ve received from complete strangers. Just go to my original post and read the comments.
On the other hand, there are still some people in this world who think that the best way to keep a woman quiet is to threaten her with violence. Yes, even for breastfeeding.
My older kids are 4 and 2 and both were breastfed. They’re used to seeing me and almost all the mothers they know breastfeed their babies, and not just at home. To them, it’s just normal.
They tell me when their sister is hungry. “Feed her, feed her!”
They remember not to share their snacks. “She’s too little for [toddler snack food], she only drinks breast milk.”
They breastfeed their dolls.
And they ask lots of questions. “Why don’t daddies breastfeed babies?”
So I was worried about what they would think after this whole thing.
Are you a breastfeeding mum in Quebec? Interested in making public breastfeeding more accepted?
There is a cool photo project called “Allaiter partout… simplement!” [Breastfeed everywhere… of course!]. The plan is to take photos women breastfeeding in public, for a gallery showing this October during International Breastfeeding Week.
The organizers hope that by showing photos of women breastfeeding in public, the general public will get used to the idea and be more accepting.
You can participate by contacting the group via their website or facebook group. They are especially interested in including photos of twins, toddlers, tandem nursing, visible minorities, etc.
Seems I’ve just been invited to a nurse-in.
Wednesday, January 19 · 1:00pm – 1:30pm
Orchestra – Montréal Complexe Les Ailes
677, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest
Montreal, QC H3B 1B9
View a map
There is a facebook event here, if you care to join in.
Text from the facebook event page: “Le magasin Orchestra, est un magasin pour enfants (sic!) situé au niveau métro du Complexe les Ailes de la mode à Montréal.” Nice!
Merci à Genviève pour l’invitation. C’est très touchant.
And a gentle reminder that all are welcome, whether you are a breastfeeding mom, or a mom who bottlefeeds or otherwise doesn’t breastfeed, or even (gasp!) a man. You just need to be in solidarity with breastfeeding moms and breastfed babes and behind the right to feed your kids the way you like. After all, it would be a poor fight against exclusion that then excluded others.
Does this make you angry? Grab a pen/keyboard and join the letter writing campaign.
I’ve collected a listed of addresses of interested parties that you can contact.
Breast for the Weary 