Bill Maher likened breastfeeding in public to masturbating in public.
Then Sara at Suburban Oblivion ate his head. But not before she kicked him in the balls.
This was supposed to be a simple post to redirect you to Sara's post of Bill Maher- Applebee's Nurse-in and Lactivism Are a Waste of Time, Breastfeed in Private. 
I wanted to add a funny picture of a giant woman eating a cowering man. Somewhere along the line in my Google searches, I became a lot more interested in the story, though.
As I mentioned in Sara's comments, if someone as intelligent as Bill Maher could display such verbal diarrhea of ignorance, imagine what the Lowest Common Denominator out there must think of breastfeeding in public. I'm at a loss for words.
But I'll get over that.
I couldn't put this (I'll be gracious here) lapse in judgment on Bill Maher's part into words better than Sara, so I'll stick to my original plan of redirecting you to her brilliant post. Spread it along, won't you? It's worth it. So worth it that she was picked up by The Lactivist (one of the absolute best sources for all things breastfeeding related) and the Queen of Spain's Erin Kotecki Vest at The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, people. It was that good.
Breastfeeding in public is not a new controversy. I have not, however, heard it compared to masturbating in public before. Nice.
Then there's the whole Facebook banning images of mothers breastfeeding their own infants because it violates their "obscene content" policy. I can't even begin to... I mean... seriously?
I am a breastfeeding mother. I breastfed Pants until he was 15 months old and I am still breastfeeding Goose at 14 months now.
When I first began breastfeeding, we lived in New Orleans and even there, in the city of "Show Your Tits," I was a little hesitant to breastfeed in public. I mean, between the image of a man grabbing my breast on Bourbon Street and a baby attached to one in the park, I was pretty sure I'd be more likely to be offered praise, if not beads, by the sight of the man getting his grope on there.
So I covered up. In the dead heat of the Louisiana summer in Audubon Park. I tried to "plan ahead" and feed the baby while cramped in the car in a parking lot before going in anywhere. I hid out in dressing rooms and, yes, bathrooms at the mall. I was immensely relieved and grateful if an establishment offered a "nursing room."
Often, I would schedule my errands around where I could nurse my baby. One of my favorite stops was Babies R Us because they had a "Nursing Mothers Room." I would strategically plan my errands so that Babies R Us fell in the middle so that I could get some comfortable nursing in at some point.
One day, after nursing Pants at Babies R Us, I noticed a mother nursing her baby in one of the rocking chairs for sale right outside of the nursing room. I greeted her warmly and mentioned that they had a nice nursing room if she wanted to use it. She graciously smiled and said, "No, but thank you. I think it's important for people to see me nurse my baby right out here in public. We shouldn't have to hide if we don't want to. Good for you for being a breastfeeding mother, though. It's the best thing you can do."
I was speechless. I felt like I had offended her and I also felt embarrassed that I had allowed myself to feel like I should hide myself and my baby when nursing. Granted, when given the option of a dedicated nursing room versus nursing in public, I might have still chosen the nursing room, but still. My feelings of embarrassment and (possibly) indecent exposure were not my own.
Yet this feeling of needing to be as inoffensive as possible ran deep. Even when visiting family and friends, I would excuse myself and go nurse my baby in a bedroom, out of sight of any potentially offended eyes.
Then one day while at my husband's grandmother's home, I excused myself to go nurse Pants in her bedroom. His grandmother, Mema, offered to show me where I could sit in the rocker in her bedroom. 
Now, Mema was pretty damn old at this point and took about half an hour to walk down the hall, which was about 18 feet long to her bedroom. I knew quite well where her bedroom rocking chair was, but I allowed her to show me the way anyway.
As we made the slow walk down the hallway, I couldn't figure out for the life of me why she wanted to go with me. Once in the rocker, she hesitated at the doorway, smiling patiently and not saying anything. I had no idea what she was waiting for, so I just smiled back while Pants squirmed and tried to fumble his four-month-old chubby hands around my still-unexposed breasts. What was the hold-up, lady?
Finally, I knew Pants could wait no longer so I unhooked my nursing bra and helped Pants to latch onto my breast. Mema watched every motion closely. This was what she had been waiting for. She smiled so gently it made my heart ache. She wanted to see me breastfeed my baby. She wanted to see a young mother breastfeed an infant. Not to be sappy, but it was as though a little bit of the glow of youth shown across the room and softened her features as she watched. There is no other way for me to explain it.
My self-consciousness almost kept me from sharing that moment with a beautiful older mother. A mother who wanted to remember. A mother who still had lessons to teach to this new generation of hardly-more-enlightened breeders.
Now, even in Mississippi, I whip it out whenever the milk is demanded. I don't hide the fact that I breastfeed. I want to do my small part to de-stigmatize breastfeeding in public. 
I don't let my whole boob hang out, but I don't smother us under a blanket, either. Besides, I don't know about you, but I don't seem to make babies who take kindly to being hidden under blankets. What we end up with is a repeatedly thrown blanket, a howling baby, and a fully exposed breast. Is that what you wanted, Bill Maher?
Go read Bill Maher- Applebeeâs Nurse-in and Lactivism Are a Waste of Time, Breastfeed in Private over at Suburban Oblivion. Join the conversation. Spread the word. Breastfeeding is an intimate act, yes, but it is not indecent and it is certainly not in any way comparable to masturbation.
Yeah, I have a sense of humor, but I don't take kindly to the propagation of ignorance. Who is the Oblivious One, anyway?
Click on any of the pictures for links to great sites about breastfeeding, more information about the International Breastfeeding Symbol, as well as articles about public breastfeeding debates.
A special note: Visit Hathor the CowGoddess and the Evolution Revolution for absolutely hilarious cartoons about breastfeeding and satisfyingly intelligent conversation about breastfeeding rights and debates.
First and foremost, visit Suburban Oblivion and give Bill Maher hell for me. Yeah, how'd I do with that quick link to Sara's post? Just get in and get out and nobody gets hurt. That's what I tell myself every time I sit down at this computer.
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A simple redirect to Suburban Oblivion (I know, I know, I missed the target there) has turned into a full blown firestorm. Nice work, Sara. Follow along, share your links, keep the discussion going. Let me know if you have a post you want to share because I've clearly already blown my "short redirect" goal, so let's bring it on! Updates to follow as the new links continue to come in:
- Boycott Bill Maher! by VDog and Little Man
- Annual "Boob against Boobs" rant by Triple Venti
- Bill Maher is a BOOB by Domestic Psychology
- My two breasts, I mean, cents by Poot and Cubby
- Boob Juice by A Whole Lot of Nothing
- Blogs Abuzz when Bill Maher Slams Lactivism on Strollerderby by Kelly Mills
- How I became one of THOSE women by Problem Girl
- Bill Maher Talks Breasts and Other Nursing Notes from the Blogosphere by Working Dad: An Unauthorized Guide to Parenting
- OK, Facebook, Let Me Get This Straight by A Mommy Story
- Az the Husband has a Message for Bill Maher by Toddled Dredge
- Bill Maher Makes this Lactivist Want to Breastfeed on his Front Porch and Bring My Friends by Suburban Oblivion
- Dear Bill Maher, Let's Talk Breasts. And Feeding. by A Mommy Story
- A Radical Act (or Suck It, Bill Maher!) by Lawyer Mama
- Breastfeeding In Public (Warning- Offensive Content) by Mojo of a Mama (easily one of my favorite posts so far, and she has lots of pictures, just like me, but even better)
- Beer, breastmilk-- Whatever gets you through the night by Mayberry Mom
- I deserve a medal from needs new batteries
- Dear Facebook and Bill Maher: You're Idiots by A Mom, A Blog, and the Life In-Between
- Breast Practices??? by PunditMom
- First MySpace, Then Facebook, Now Harvard? by IzzyMom
- Bill Maher is a Misogynistic Anti-Breastfeeding Pig by Tennessee Guerilla Women
- Society! You Need to Grow Up! by Blooming Marvelous
- Wordless Wednesday: An Ode to Bill Maher by Get in the Car!
The best way to keep the conversation going is to Stumble and SK*RT everyone's posts. Submit it wherever you see fit. Just click the appropriate buttons and viola! Spread the word. Disagree? Then rally your own troops the same way. We can take it. Just play fair and you can keep your (literal or figurative) balls.
Now bring him hell.
Watch the video for yourself of Bill Maher's comments.
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Edited to add:
Tune in to the live BOOB podcast Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 8pm Central on BlogTalkRadio. My fellow BOOBs and I will be talking about, you guessed it, Bill Maher and all things masturbatory
public breastfeeding. Call in and give it to us, baby! Yeah, even you
anti-public breastfeeding folks. We'd love to hear from you! If you miss it, check out the archives anytime.
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