We both shop at Fred Meyer

A number of wonderful women have blogged about the guff given to a breastfeeding mom at a Portland Fred Meyer. (For non-Oregonians, FM is like Target with a grocery.) I do not want to repeat what these other women have said so well. But I do have something on my mind.

It seemed obvious to write a letter to Fred Meyer's headquarters. I shop there regularly. I can walk to one and the trip is an almost weekly routine for Ada and me. I'd hate to stop going; the store carries organic bananas, contact lens solution, drill bits and Levis. I do want see the company policy changed, for my own good and for nursing mothers in general. So I wrote Fred Meyer a letter - from the outraged parents of a nine-month old. I showed it to Chris and he agreed, and it went in the mail.

It is great that so many women are standing with this nursing mom. I love that we are saying that it is unacceptable to treat nursing as something dirty. If a nurse-in is called, I'll be there. But it is not enough for us to stand together as women. We need our male friends and partners to stand with us. They may not ever breastfeed, but this is about their children too. We need to remind men to speak up for the values they hold. They need to help us present a united front in support of families and children. These are things most of the men in our lives do value, but about which they may not think to shout.

When men stand with us it lets companies know what they stand to lose if they do not support our issues and respond to our concerns. Fred Meyer (and its owner, Kroger) care about keeping customers coming in the door. And men may not be the majority of grocery shoppers, but they buy electronics, they buy magazines, they buy flat head nails and athletic socks (all things women buy too, just hang in with me, ok?). It is great that Fred Meyer knows we are pissed. Let's let them know that the men in our lives are too.