E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Keith Srakocic / AP
Jill Miller drives her Milk Truck, near her Pittsburgh home, Jan. 19. The truck is a vehicle she made for spreading the message that nursing mothers have the need and the right to feed their infants in public.
AP reports:
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- It's the Milk Truck, spreading the message that nursing mothers have the need and the right to feed their infants in public.
Jill Miller, an artist and mother, said she got the idea after the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh asked her to do a project of her choice last year.
...
Keith Srakocic / AP
Jill Miller talks about her Milk Truck.
"I wouldn't say every woman in Pittsburgh has been asked to cover up — that would be totally overblowing it," Miller said. "But there were these stories I would hear that seemed almost like urban legends."
The stories were noteworthy because Pennsylvania has a law guaranteeing women the right to breastfeed in public without harassment, she said.
...
Miller estimates that the project cost about $16,000, most of it from Kickstarter, an online funding platform for artists, inventors, and explorers. People describe their projects and set a funding goal, and contributors get something in return, such as artwork and personal thank-you notes.
Someone once described Miller's artwork as "very funny upfront, but very serious on the backside."
"It opens up a conversation with a lightness to have a giant breast on a truck. For me, the humor is very important. I couldn't do the project without it," said Miller.
Daisy Klaber Miksch, who runs a business that offers singing and music classes to children and families, recalled the first time she saw the truck.
"It made me smile," she wrote in an email. "What it said, and says, to me is, 'Breasts are nice. Nursing is nice! Here's a friendly reminder. Take a moment to consider changing your negative reaction to a mom who's breastfeeding her kid. Lighten the mood!"
Miksch isn't a mother, but said she has sisters and friends who've been given dirty looks for breastfeeding in public.
"We all have our own hangups — about bodies, about sex, etc. ... Our culture very strongly associates breasts with sex. But the fact that it's cultural means it's changeable," she wrote.
Some people complained, especially after local newspapers and TV stations did stories on the Milk Truck last year.
One man sent an email saying that he could "donate money to your silly truck" or continue to give to the local food bank to help feed hungry children. He chose the food bank.
"What an insane cause you chose to rally behind. ... Pointless!" he wrote.
Miller found that people from all walks of life were willing to help the project, such as a local mechanic who donated his time fixing the 20-year-old truck because he thought it was so cool. He even start using her nickname for it: the boob truck.
"He just loves telling people he works on the boob truck. He has a T-shirt and a picture," Miller said.
...
The Warhol exhibit has closed, but Miller and McElfresh see new possibilities. Originally, they wanted the truck to be on call for mothers who get harassed in a public place, rushing to their aid with a comfortable, pink interior.
Keith Srakocic / AP
Jill Miller drives her Milk Truck, near her Pittsburgh home.
Over time they realized the Milk Truck was a valuable educational tool, even without a crisis. Stores for mothers and babies have invited the truck to park out front to show their support for breastfeeding, and it's appeared at public libraries.
"We have people all over the world who love the truck," Miller said. "We're now talking about having like a national tour. It would be like a rock band on a tour bus — but we are the tour bus," she said.
Related content:
Story: This truck brakes for nursing mamas
Site: The Milk Truck
Leave a Comment:
It saddens me that our culture views the female breast primarily as a sexual object when it is so much more. It saddens me to see a tiny infant being fed formula out of a bottle. Human infants have been breastfed since time began...isn't it time we honored that?
Yes but at the same time be respectful about it. Cover up and dont just flop it out there. I've had to have very uncomfortable conversations with children explaining things way too early because a woman just flopped it out in a restaurant.
Why is that an uncomfortable conversation. I think people don't give children enough credit. It is only uncomfortable for you. Just tell them the truth according to the age group. I have a child I always told her the truth about sex and body parts and it works well.
I agree with "impatient girl". Totally understand the need to breatfeed your baby, I breastfed myseld. I just don't see the need to go around flopping your breasts out whenever and wherever you want. If you think it's your right to do so, then why isn't ok for it to be the right of the rest of the public to not have to see it. Just be descreet, have respect for yourself, your baby and those around you. I always viewed breastfeeding as a private intimate act between mother and child to be done without stress but in comfort and ease. Why would you want to invite the world to watch? Seems exhibitionist to me.
I agree with "impatient girl" and "Gbelle". Just about anyone can understand the importance of breastfeeding over bottle-feeding with the infant formulas, especially with the recalls and such that have gone on. It's definitely healthier for the baby.
But, there is really no reason that it should be about the mother's rights here. I have a daughter-in-law who just whips it out where-ever! At a Christmas party, restaurant, even while sitting at a table playing board games with all of the other grandchildren around. This is not okay!
First off, the main lesson that is being taught to the children is that 'I' am the only one that matters here. That is the thought they grow up with, so in situations in life, 'I' is all that will matter. Not respect for others or others feelings, or how uncomfortable they may make their fellow man.
There is no reason to 'not' cover up. It can be done very discreetly, and most persons will not even realize that there is a child even there. My sister-in-law breastfed all six of her children, and none of us even knew it, while still having a conversation with us, and a few times at a restaurant.
It just simply boils down to respect for your fellow man, respect for their feelings and beliefs. We aren't here alone. There are others to consider. And, why would you not want to teach your children modesty? Goodness knows there is a need out there for that.
When a breastfeeding mother wants to go out on a date with her hubby, say to a restaurant and a movie, she will often 'pump' her breast milk, and put 'it' into bottles for the sitter. So, 'Why?', please can someone tell me that it can't be done for some other occasions when you know that you will be out for awhile? You know shopping, eating, etc.? You most likely already have a diaper bag with you for the other necessities, so just put the bottles in there also.
In any case, if you don't have a cover-up, there is always the bathroom. I had some good conversations with my children in bathrooms, when they were disrupting the restaurant or movie. If they weren't made to understand, then we simply went back to the car and waited for the others. It is not simply about us! It's all about respect for others, along with you. And I can guarantee you personally, that if you will respect my right to 'your privacy', I will definitely think much more highly of you. And I will probably tell others of my wonderful experience with a very generous person.
The children you are teaching to be an 'I' person; "Because, if I need to feed my baby, I'm going to!". "What I want right now, is what's important!", "I'm sorry if you're uncomfortable, deal with it.", "No, I'm not modest. I don't care what person sees my breast; it's a vehicle for feeding, nothing more." Yeah, right, I buy that one. What you are really telling the rest of us, is that YOU don't want to be bothered or put out with having to take the little extra effort to ensure that EVERYONE is comfortable. And you are telling the children the same thing.
These are the adults you are raising. Just think about it, and look at it through our eyes also. We teach children to respect their elders, and to be respectful of others religious and political points of view, but you don't want to teach them to be respectful of others feelings? I don't get it.
Toma almost everything you said is wrong in so many ways! A lot of children, especially the older they get, don't like to be covered up and most breastfed babies won't take a bottle. My daughter sure won't, so I cannot leave her for more than an hour or two with my husband and a few choice friends. Since he works fifty hours a week that leaves me out most of the time with the children. It's not an "I" type of world to feed your children, personally I find it selfish that you care more about your comfort than a hungry child and what surprises me the most is that you're a mother. I don't care who you are I will not let my child go hungry for anyone. I try to be discreet and I'm actually pretty good at it too! My shirt usually does the covering up for me but if someone sees some boob oh well, I try to forewarn people that I am breastfeeding anyway. It's not only about the mother's rights, it's about the child too. Formula is a good ALTERNATIVE and should not be a first choice. It is not comparable to breast milk and no where near as good. I don't judge formula feeding mothers because I understand some women CAN'T breastfeed but I'm not ignorant either. I do my research and have even read the Surgeon Generals Call to Action for Breastfeeding. There is a huge difference between formula and breastmilk; breastmilk can save lives wherease formula can contribute to taking them. Get off your high horse and realize that healthy children are more important than your politically correct agenda. Oh and when it comes to planning, breastfed babies need to be fed more often then formula children because it digests faster. You can feed a baby and within an hour they could be hungry again or they can go several hours without food. You cannot predict a babies eating habit, especially one who is only a couple months old. Another thing when you pick up your plate and eat in a bathroom I'll consider feeding my child in one. That is unsanitary and my pediatrician would flip out if he knew I fed my child in a bathroom. It's disgusting on so may levels to even tell a breastfeeding mother it's OK to do that. I find it funny how you complain that people only live in a world where they think about themselves and their own comfort when you're doing the exact same thing. As far as explaining to a child it's not hard. I explained to my two year old son that mommy makes milk like a cow makes milk (not glamorous but eh it does the job!) but her milk is for human babies whereas a cows milk can be drunk by anyone. I'm sure if my two year old can understand breastfeeding and go one living like it's no big deal, you can too! Get over yourself. I know I may come off as rude but your comment is so ignorant and full of stereotypes its unbelievable! Breastfeeding in public is not the problem, it's people like YOU who are the problem.
BBogue - wonderfully said! I also chose to ebf ALL of my children. I was 19 years old and comfortably breast feeding my first child in public! I find that adults are the ones that have the most difficulty "adjusting" to the idea that breasts were made for a specific purpose (my teenage step-children never once had issue with me nursing freely), and sexual objects is NOT it! I refuse to sacrifice my child's well-being for the so-called "comfort" of an adult who should know better!
As a nurse I too realize that not everyone CAN breast feed (and do not condemn or chastise formula feeding moms), but it should be the first choice of every parent.
Jill miller summed it up best when she said: "Our culture very strongly associates breasts with sex. But the fact that it's cultural means it's changeable."
REToma's comment: "In any case, if you don't have a cover-up, there is always the bathroom."
Have you ever even considered eating your lunch or dinner in a restroom, specifically a public restroom? There was an article not that long ago on this very site that discussed a recent study about the bacteria, viruses and germs found in public restrooms, and the conclusion, to paraphrase, was 'public restrooms are so filthy, unless you absolutely have to use them, wait until you get home'. Now I'm definitely no germaphobe, but why would I want to feed my child in such a place? As it works out, I do use a cover up when breastfeeding my daughter in public, but to be that is for my comfort - not those around me. If she was ever hungry and I did not have the cover with me, you'd better believe that I would feed her without it...and not in a grungy public restroom. While I appreciate other opinions, the idea of eating in a bathroom is just not acceptable!