Does eating in a toilet stall sound appetizing to you? Or does the thought of even eating near a toilet sicken you?
Jonathan Wenske and Kris Haro, both Juniors at the University of North Texas, have created a campaign, When Nature Calls. The two students created the campaign to support the bill HB 1706 in the Texas legislature, which would protect mothers from harassment and discrimination when they are out in public and they have to breastfeed their children.
The students were inspired by the story of Michelle Hickman, a woman who was harassed for breastfeeding her baby while shopping in Target in November of 2011. While at a Target store in Webster, Texas 35-year-old Hickman, at the time, began nursing her hungry infant son while in the women’s clothing department. Eventually several employees surrounded her and two of them asked her to breastfeed in a fitting room while the other employees rolled their eyes, according to Hickman’s testimony.
After this incident took place, several mothers along with Hickman, organized a Nurse-In; these women went to the same Target store Hickman was harassed in and demonstrated their breastfeeding techniques. “It felt great, it’s nice to see us all just coming together,” said Kelly Roth, 29, of Lake City, Texas, one of the organizers. “We shouldn’t have to sit at home or in a bathroom to (nurse.) Babies shouldn’t have to wait.”
The students, Jonathan and Kris, want to raise awareness for mothers in nursing so they took pictures of three young mothers breastfeeding in bathroom stalls. These pictures were created to capture the everyday situations mothers face while out in public with their infants. The pictures all have a different slogan,” Bon Appetit”, “Table for Two”, and “Private Dining”, simply to show people that the cost of their comfort is another’s discomfort.
When nature calls mothers have an obligation to feed their infant. Do you turn your head instead of having a say so to where a mother can breastfeed? What is your say so about this?
