When a grown man thinks breastfeeding is a license to grab women’s nipples in public, there is a serious problem. This was the case with self-described “pro-family” conservative – New Hampshire’s Josh Moore. His stance stemmed from the situation in which he stated on Facebook that he should be allowed to grab the nipples of all women that breastfeed their children in public if a new law banning them from exposing their breasts in said places doesn’t pass.
The outrageous comment by Moore was based on the argument over proposed legislation to make it a crime for women to expose their nipples in public.
The proposed law proudly supported solely by Republican men states that:
“A woman could be charged with a misdemeanor if she purposely exposes the areola or nipple of her breast or breasts in a public place and in the presence of another person with reckless disregard for whether a reasonable person would be offended or alarmed by such act.”
In a counter-move, New Hampshire State Rep. Amanda Bouldin fired her own salvo by criticizing the bill. She made a good point of calling the male Republicans “small government” colleagues.
Like a child with a hand in the cookie jar, Moore, who had deleted the comment, was found out by Slate who had archived said comment. Moore stated:
“Who doesn’t support a mother’s right to feed? Don’t give me the liberal talking points Amanda. If it’s a woman’s natural inclination to pull her nipple out in public and you support that, than you should have no problem with a man’s [inclination] to stare at it and grab it. After all, it’s ALL relative and natural, right?”
To further support his male republican colleague’s stance and then harass Bouldin, Al Baldasaro also got in on the act:
“Amanda, No disrespect, but your nipple would be the last one I would want to see,” Baldasaro said. “You want to turn our family beaches into a pervert show. Libertarians want a nude beach, put your money together and buy one, if you want to expose you kids to nudity, go for it. Some of us liberty minded Reps do believe in family values.”
The comments made by the New Hampshire Republicans. sparked wild outrage among the female folks who took to Facebook to voice their discontent:
“I have no words,” one woman wrote. “Unbelievable and discriminatory to women and babies … I’d be proud to be on the sex offenders list for breastfeeding in public and I’d rake the courts through the mud on national television!”
“I can’t believe how backwards things have gone, my children are 21, 23 & 25, all breastfed, YES IN PUBLIC as well as in my home and I NEVER had any problems with anyone about it,” another wrote. “I’m just shocked by this absurdity against the most natural thing in this world!”
The law and the stance held by the two men have been widely criticized by constituents.
It is currently lawful in New Hampshire for men and women to go topless in public.
That’s weird right?
Featured Image by Brian Turner Via Flickr’s Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License
