>> >>: A photo of two women in the military breast feeding in uniform.
Promotional base posters for national breast feeding awareness month, but some say it's
unprofessional and disgraceful to the uniform.
Wendy Patrick and SDSU lecturer, thank you for being here.
Who are these women in this photograph?
>> >>: They are two members of the international guard and they're based up at fair child air
force base in Washington.
As you said, it all started with an idea to promote military moms breast feeding.
So a local photographer invited some moms to have their pictures taken, sort of nature
photos outside and most of the women were photographed breast feeding their babies just
wearing their civilian clothes.
Two of the women were photographed wearing their uniforms and when this photographer
posted those photos on her website, they started getting spread around the internet and that's
where the controversy started.
>> >>: I know on our website, KPBS.org, where the photos are posted we've been slam would
so many hits and now so many comments.
Tell me what some of the people are say saying.
>> >>: The comments are really sort of polarizing.
You have one side some of the men in the military, or women who have been in the military for
awhile saying that it's not something that should be done in uniform, that when you wear
the uniform you're reflecting something greater than yourself.
The example's been used you don't talk on the phone, you don't or cell phoneÊ you don't
chew gum, you're representing something different.
>> >>: Rules of DECORUM.
>> >>: By lifting up the shirt, that's sort of disgracing the uniform.
On the other side, you have women and men, too, saying that this is extremely natural,
this is what the woman's body was built to do, which is feed these children.
The children don't always know when the mom's wearing the uniform or not, they're hungry
when they're hungry.
So she's doing something very natural and feeding her child and that the issue is really
within the person who has the problem, and not the woman who's doing the breast feeding.
>> >>: So Wendy, I thought we'd been through this debate already, culturally and as a country.
So why is it?
What is it about these photos that is causing such an emotional reaction?
>> >>: Well, I really think that kind of speaks to the issue, it's an emotional reaction.
Partly on the nature of the photo and partly on the nature of the controversy.
Women have breast fed all throughout history and will continue to disoo so.
The issues are where they do it, when they do it, and while wearing what, in or out of
uniform, that points out the baby has no way of knowing hungry when it's hungry.
I think this is an opportunity to talk about all three issues.
I think bloggers as all of you know, have seen it as just that.
People aren't just commenting on whether these moms shouldn't have taken their uniforms off,
or gone to a private place, it has expanded the discussion of breast feeding in this day
in age where women can't afford to stay home.
We have to have duel income families and a lot of respects.
It's more relevant to talk about it now.
>> >>: These are work moms, a lot of working moms.
What does the labor law say in terms of a work mom and breast feeding?
>> >>: That's a really good question.
The labor code talks about the fact that the employer has to provide accommodations, reasonable
time, and space which cannot be a bathroom for a mom to breast feed.
They get a pass to provide those accommodations if it would seriously disrupt the operations
of the employer.
We we can speculate to the dpasm examples of that.
Are we going to have air traffic controllers breast feeding in front of staff, prison guards
and law enforcement and teachers.
We're going soar sort of into the out rage ows where the labor code gives some really
good specific guidelines as to how an employer can provide reasonable accommodations for
moms to do this.
>> >>: I do want to let people at home know we did contact the women in the photo.
They are no longer doing interviews.
They told thus recent media has portrayed mom to mom as not being supportive of the
military.
We support the military 110% and this was never our intention.
Beth, doo do we know what's happened to this these women?
Are they subject to disciplinary action?
>> >>: They have been told by their superiors they are not to talk to the media.
Based on what a spokesmen for fair child air force base said, the issue was never with
them, the women breast feeding in their uniform, it was that they promoting a cause while wearing
the uniform.
The cause was, you know, women breast feeding or military moms breast feeding but they shouldn't
have been wearing the uniforms to promote the cause.
That's the issue they had.
But they're saying it's an educational moment and these women are not taking an REPrimANDS.
>> >>: I want to send people to our website.
They can read these comments, make their own, at KPBS.org, and your blog spot as well?
>> >>: Home post.org.