The best take on breastfeeding in public I've heard so far

In response to a PopSugar article called "Dear Breastfeeding Moms, Is It Really That Hard to Cover Up?" one facebook user shared this poignant response and social commentary (reposted with permission). A longer version can be found here.

First lesson: Lactation is an innate part of reproduction. Barring medical complication, lactation is the next step after delivery. At times induced (which is so awesome I can't even... But I digress) the point is, lactating may be innate, but nursing is not. Nursing is learned activity. Learned. Contrary to myth, women aren't born with the instinct to know exactly what to do. Mom and child are getting the hang of this together. Primates (that's us) require observation and exposure for continued success and sustained efforts. Normalizing is vital. Seeing nursing moms and children matter. It's empowering and necessary. The choice to cover should only be preference of mother/child. Never infringe on their comfort.

Second: Modesty deals with arbitrary sexist standards birthed from coverture. There is nothing indecent about feeding a child. If you see a child nursing and modesty comes to mind, the issue is yours. And sure, we sometimes view breasts sexually. Welcome to the amazing world of a human body. Where we use our mouths and hands sexually too. I certainly hope you aren't thinking of those as sexual when kissing and holding a child. Think about it.

Third: Those of you asking for your discomfort to be respected, pay attention: My rights to nurse my child without cover DO outweigh your nonexistent right to not be offended. This is fact of law. You hold no such right. The public square is for the public. There are more than enough offenses we all must tolerate, including bigoted, uneducated, ignorant ones. Alas. Learn the difference between what is a right under law and what isn't.

I'm a little confused why you think I ought to hold in high esteem the ignorant aversions of a stranger in regards to nursing? Of course I won't respect that kind of ignorance. That person's offense is not my business or issue. And I'm certainly not going to cater to it over the right of my child to eat without a cover over his face or the breast he is feeding from. Why would I? Why would you even expect me to?

Should we have respected the aversions people had to others drinking from the same fountain? Should we have said "oh, respect their bigotry, their opinion matters too". Of course not. Again: Of course not.

I am not going to respect the view that women and children be treated as second class citizens that are shamed under cover into hiding because an idiot has an aversion to seeing a human mammal feed from a human mammary gland. Never.

And quite frankly, you shouldn't either.

Fourth: Images are empowering. They matter.

We live in an age where rants of TMI is the norm. We post pictures of our pets, our food, our shoes and yes, we share images of our families too. But when women share photographs of the moments they share nursing their children, scorn rips defiant calling women exhibitionist. It shouldn't matter what motive a woman has, but if we needed a reason, there are plenty of them. The images are empowering to many who are looking. They normalize breastfeeding as just another memorable moment a parent is having. And they encourage those who don't understand why critics didn't just keep scrolling.

Fifth: Human mammals require milk beyond infancy. Milk is a developmental requirement custom to species. Jaws alter, cheek fat diminishes, milk teeth drop, mammals wean. Until then, it's nonsense to suggest there would be anything weird about a human mammal expressing human milk from human mammary glands. What's weird is that we'd drink milk from another species after the wean. But alas, cheese. The age of weaning is a spectrum, not an arbitrary line. And telling my child he is weird because your child didn't nurse through those years is absurd.

Finally:
If you're concerned about children being exposed, perhaps your answer is to teach them anatomy.