there were complaints about me breastfeeding my baby without covering her with a blanket in church. I was accused of being immodest.She then offered several justifications for why she absolutely had to do this. The woman and Ms Gyapong then agree that breast feeding in public and without covering is part of the Anglican patrimony! Yes, I think that happened all the time in Jane Austen -- Sense and Sensibility, all those descriptions, right? And the great breastfeeding scene in Middlemarch! Shame on those philistines for not recognizing the great Anglican tradition, centuries long, which reached its peak in Victoria's reign, of boldly asserting female reproductive capacity!
Apparently it's those prudish ultramontanists who spoil the fun, according to Ms Gyapong and her visitor. Petty concerns about near occasions of sin, the sort of thing you only find in the act of contrition nowadays. You don't like it, then don't look!
I'm not sure where to start. Ms Gyapong and her visitor cite centuries of Catholic art depicting Christ's Mother breastfeeding. OK, centuries of other Catholic art depict Christ's Mother posing with the Holy Infant on her lap, with Mary discreetly pointing to the Child's penis. This is meant in both cases, as far as I can see, to make the theological point that Christ was fully human but did not sin. It does not imply that mothers should bring their infant boys to church to show off their private parts. Indeed, sometimes infants need a change of diapers while in church, but so far, I've never seen anyone make the change right in the pew.
For that matter, there are many depictions of the angel visiting Mary. But this appears to have been a very private event. This is art. Lots of rapes, massacres, battles, murders, and whatever else take place in art. Doesn't mean we're supposed to do them.
Actually, I've only occasionally seen anyone breastfeeding in church, and in my almost five years as a Catholic, I've never seen it, although Ms Gyapong's visitor says it happens at her new flip-flop and halter top parish, where they're cool with it. One thing that strikes me is that there are lots of infants and children at Catholic parishes -- of course. But in our area, many parishioners are from the Philippines and Latin countries. Frankly, I can't imagine any of them just pulling it out and giving suck.
I think there are two issues here, modesty and decorum. This site quotes Pius XII:
Decency involves the "proper consideration for the sensitivity of others to objects that are unsightly, or, above all, as a defense of moral honesty and a shield against disordered sensuality."Both Ms Gyapong and her visitor take the position that if you have a problem with having to turn away from a bare breast, there's something wrong with you -- in fact, there's something wrong with you if you think it's something you're not supposed to look at! Where does consideration for the sensitivity of others figure in here?
Beyond that, there's the question of decorum. I think this goes to having a reverent atmosphere in church, among other things. For the same reason that loud social chit-chat in the nave is inappropriate, other things like public breastfeeding probably aren't appropriate, either. Think of why travel during the holidays can be difficult: the prevalence of infants and toddlers tends to make all public space a nursery. But ordinary standards of decorum mean that not everything infants and toddlers do is appropriate in public. Certainly the same kind of people who want everyone to eat crunchy granola also want everyone to accept that all public space should be a nursery, but I try to avoid that sort of situation.
So yeah, I can imagine, say, Gloucester in 1883, with ladies just swingin' down the street, a child at each breast, headin' to morning prayer or some such. It's the Anglican patrimony after all, one of its precious spiritual treasures, which those prudish continental Catholics just can't accept. It's that awful non-Anglican priest leading that little gathered group which just doesn't understand these things. Why, they drove her to a new flip-flop and halter-top parish with awful music and a priest who sounds like Kermit the Frog, but at least they've got no problem with her boobs.
I keep coming back to the insight of Abp Siller-Garcia: these people don't want to be unique, they want to be separate.
