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A case which made headlines in 2003 was that of Kirstie Marshall
a newly elected
MP
for Forest Hill in Victoria’s State Parliament.
Eleven days prior to her first seating, Ms Marshall gave birth to her
child, Charlotte. Whilst seated in Parliament, Marshall began to
silently breastfeed her child in order to halt her cries. However
Marshall’s good intentions were soon reproached as she was thrown
out of the chamber on the grounds that the baby was not an elected
member of Parliament, so it wasn’t supposed to be there and told,
‘there is a time and a place for such action.’
These are means which I personally find hard to process. Reason
one, of course the baby is not an elected member of our State
Parliament it was 11 days old. Reason two, if apparently there is a
time and a place to breastfeed, does this imply that an eleven day old
infant, prior to the realisation that she is hungry and in need of milk
from her mother, must pause for a moment and think in her eleven
day old, hardly developed and unintelligent little head,
‘hmmm better
not start crying, I wouldn’t want to disturb the people out around me so I’ll just
pretend I’m not hungry.’
No, absolutely not.
This case I found most outrageous, as it took place in the walls of
our Parliament. If we as a nation or a state are attempting to make
changes in the perception of breastfeeding in public, we have little
to zero hope of doing so if those who govern and control us, refuse
to give the situation the time of day. Here, it is important to note,
however, that breastfeeding in Australia is a right, not a privilege.
Under the federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984, it is illegal to
discriminate against a person either directly or indirectly on the
grounds of breastfeeding in public.
So, if the parliament makes the laws for society to follow, but then
breaks the same laws under the roof of the same house they made
the initial law, what on earth are we as a society supposed to follow?
And here, lies the problem.
Okay, so what do we need to do? As a community we need to
change the attitudes and views of our Members of Parliament and
make sure that we as a nation are aware of the rights a female holds
to breastfeed her newborn child. We need to appreciate the beauty
housed in childbirth and the natural cycle of which I’m sure almost
all of us were a part. Finally, we need to stop giving breastfeeding
mothers in public that weird and disgusted look of which I know we
are all capable, because you never know, one day it could be you.
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