I do see both points of view but it seems ridiculous to me that two people can walk down the street topless, with the same size 'chests' but one is allowed and one isn't because one is a man and one is a woman.
@023mjc - If a young mother walked into a restaurant and the manager said " show us yer boobs or you can't come in" she would be outraged. But then gets angry when she's told not to.
I guess I'm just old fashioned.
That is just about one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever read.
If a manager of a restaurant said that - he would be fired, because he would be demanding to see 'boobs' in a sexual content.
BREASTS are meant to feed babies, ergo breastfeeding is a necessary requirement. B/Feeding can be done with complete decorum. I think some of the men on here think that they own women's breasts and have the right to say when they should or should not 'pop out'. Even some women appear to think b/feeding in public is disgusting. For goodness' sake - it is what they are made for!!! It is not something to be ashamed of, for crying out loud - a baby needs to feed, and what better way than from it's Mum.
Ohhh, Grrrr - this boils my blood, it really does!
I agree Meccanoman - seeing a man with no top on is particularly disgusting in some scenarios. In the supermarket, for instance, most unhygienic (some supermarkets have banned this, actually). But some men think it is okay for the rest of us to have to endure the sight of their manboobs and beer bellies. YEUCH! 
So lovely to see, however, that most sensible people agree that b/feeding is the right way to go, and have a wonderfully accepting and mature attitude towards it.
(Sorry - have been involved in another, much feistier forum of late, where the posting rules are quite, quite different from here. Difficult to adjust).
I didn't call you 'rediculous' [sic] - I said your statement regarding a restaurant manager asking a young mother to get her 'boobs' out was 'ridiculous'. A woman 'getting her boobs out' for no apparent reason and a woman breastfeeding are two entirely different things. If you can't see the difference, then I have absolutely no hope of convincing you otherwise.
You may very well agree that b/feeding is not a problem, but you appeared to find it a problem in public.
Why should a baby not be able to feed at the same time as the rest of it's family?
I agree with you that it can be (and normally is) done discreetly, but sometimes very new Mums struggle with getting new Baby to latch on. Therefore, a bit of boob sighting is unavoidable. /There's only so much you can do under a cloth!!! Not nice to criticise an already stressed and struggling new Mum. Just avert your gaze - it's not rocket science.
I've been a b/feeding Mum myself, and have known lots of others - it has never been an issue anywhere, because it is usually so discreet, it's not even noticeable. I have never seen anyone wilfully flashing their boobs around. Honestly, never. So I fail to see the problem.
I don't want to eat my lunch whilst being confronted by some one elses naked body - male or female.
Don't think of it in that way, then. Just think, Oh, baby is having his/her lunch. Simple!
I'm pretty sure the Mum was not sitting there naked. If that were the case, she'd more than likely been asked to leave the premises???
One bosom was possibly partly exposed - I expect you'd probably had to have actively peered to see it
