"Inappropriate" or "Nature’s Way?" Despite the Law, The Breastfeeding in Public Debate Continues; American Girl Responds.
American Girl has issued a statement regarding the recent mistreatment of a breastfeeding mother in an NYC store.
American Girl has issued an official statement regarding the recent mistreatment of a breastfeeding mom shopping in their NYC store this past weekend. Joanna DiCarlo was told to stop nursing her baby in a sitting area of the store. She then moved to the fitting room where employees loudly talked about her outside the door.
A representative from American Girl sent a response to me via email last night:
“American Girl supports mothers’ rights to breastfeed in any location in our stores. As a courtesy, we make available more private areas in all of our stores for women who prefer this.
We’re taking this misunderstanding very seriously and are looking into this matter at our New York location. We are truly sorry for any discomfort our customer experienced and have reached out to her directly to further discuss this with her.”
Joanna’s husband has been tweeting and blogging about the incident, and posted a tweet yesterday that the manager of the American Girl store in question did contact the family to see how they could make it up to them.
It’s sparked quite the heated conversation as many readers debate if exposed breasts while nursing a baby in public should be allowed, despite breastfeeding laws that protect and support breastfeeding mothers.
Others are still angry and opting to boycott American Girl. It is an opportunity for all companies to take careful note. One Facebook commenter, Sherry Thompson suggested, “The company should make a statement and discipline the staff, as well as, have a training session. I would take a big guess that most of their clientele are mothers? How would we react if this was racial discrimination? We shouldn’t have to be polite about or ask for equal rights, especially when its the law.”
Wow!
Well that statement says a lot, to me.
Am glad my daughter couldn’t care less about AG. Rip. Off.
Every company in the world has some douchebag employees. This woman came into contact with a few at American Girl. They have helpful protocol in place for breastfeeding mothers and it sounds like they’ve handled the situation (disciplining an employee shouldn’t be a public matter), hating on the whole company isn’t going to accomplish anything except feed your own anger.
Geez Jenna, way to take all the wind out of our sails with a thoughtful, even tempered response!
Jenna,
This wasn’t a single employee. This was all the way down the line. My wife encountered not only flack from the initial employee who told her she had to “do that somewhere else,” but also from the woman telling her where the fitting rooms were, to the employees at the fitting rooms who not only gave her an attitude about feeding in the fitting rooms, but who also continued to mock and talk about her right outside the fitting room.
No, this is not just a case of “some douchebag employees.” This appears to me to be an institutionalized attitude toward breastfeeding mothers. It was completely unacceptable and my wife should not have been treated as a second-class citizen to be completely humiliated for feeding our daughter.
I’m sorry, Jenna, but with all due respect, you are incorrect on this issue. The only offer we’ve had thus far in terms of making it up to us was to come back to the store and have a personal shopper. In other words, come back and spend more money… make a profit off of my wife’s ordeal.
It seems like a good response, to be honest – I’m glad that they’re openly communicating with the person they shamed. However, it seems like a really great teaching opportunity for their chain – something to be shared with all, for sure! I hope that they continue to make it right so it doesn’t happen to another mom.
I think its totally appropriate to put pressure on companies to train their employees carefully, BUT we have to realize that in a culture where most of the population is ignorant and/or grossed out by the way human babies are meant to be fed… it isn’t just the companies fault. Its bigger than that.
I’m sorry this mom had such a bad experience, but at least it sounds like AG is listening & going to work on better training.
I think that last line says it all. It still shocks me how often this happens and how many people are still ignorant of laws protecting a woman’s right to breasfeed in public. Breastfeeding is one of the best things a mother can do for her child. Breast milk is full of nutrients and antibodies that protect the child from illness and keep it healthy. Breastfeeding also helps a mother recover from birth, facilitates bonding, and even lowers her risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, Type 2 Diabetes and PPD. The WHO recommends that mothers breastfeed exclusively for the first 6 months and then continue along with complimentary foods until 2 years of age or more. And yet here we are as a society refusing to support BFing moms and shaming them into hiding or into stopping altogether because it makes a few people “uncomfortable.” Know what makes me uncomfortable? A sick baby and woman whose rights have been violated.
I believe it is disgusting the way this mother was treated. Shame on all those who tried to make her feel as if she was doing something wrong. They are the ones doing something wrong. If this was Europe you wouldn’t even hear about this but here in the U.S. sadly we have turned women into such sex symbols that breastfeeding is looked at completely wrong. I praise her for feeding her child and belive 100% establishments should be fine or made to stand accountable in some way. We as the general American public would NOT stand for this if it was a case of racial discrimination, however; this is discrimination!