This thread is working pretty well in that regard. Forum threads always attract lurkers!
(He said, non-ironically.)

It's kind of the basis of at least one facet of the argument... Some people find breastfeeding in public offensive, and some don't... Kind of proves it's subjective right there.

You may find the "lurkers" more subjectively offensive than breastfeeding in public, but there wouldn't be anything there for them to be subjectively offensive about (i.e., "lurk") if the mother wasn't breastfeeding in public.
(Okay, I take that back - true lurkers would probably find something to be subjectively offensive about, but within the context of this argument, we're assuming it's because of breastfeeding in public.)

And for clarification of terms, is someone a "lurker" because they find breastfeeding in public offensive, or only if they actually ogle/blatantly watch the mother breastfeed?

isn't 'offensive' a subjective standard

Thank you for making the point. This is exactly the reason why a mother should remove herself to a more discrete location: to not give the lurkers anything to objectify or complain against. This being a public place, the "lurker" has a much right to be there as she does, let's not forget. If the mother asks one person to leave because they don't like it, then don't they have the right to ask the mother to leave on the same grounds?

Is not the best fight the one you've already won? If she removes herself to a more discrete location, the baby gets fed (objective #1), she isn't the object of drooling lurkitude (objective #2), and no-one can be offended by her actions (if indeed, there is anyone around who takes offense)(objective #3), and, lastly, if someone does intrude upon her, she has a perfectly valid right to complain and ask them to leave or turn away (objective #4).

To put it in slightly simpler terms:

A breastfeeding mother should remove herself to a more discrete location so she does not offend people who do not want to see that.

A breastfeeding mother should remove herself to a more discrete location to protect herself from the people who DO want to see that.

Personally speaking, I can always ignore a breastfeeding mother if I found it offensive enough to worry about it. The point I am trying to make, that seems to keep being skipped over, is with regard to the mothers who do breastfeed their children in public, but regard being seen doing it as offensive to them, the mother. (I only assume the baby doesn't care either way.)

It is the mother choosing to feed her baby in an open, public place. She is the one consciously choosing to perform that action at that time. Thusly, it is up to the mother to modify her behavior to ensure that she, the baby, and the public are comfortable with it. It's not like someone else is telling her, coercing her to feed her baby then and there, and then yelling at her for doing it. The baby has no conscious control of the situation, so it is improper to blame the baby. It's not as if there are no other alternatives like bottle-feeding or - as I have been advocating - moving to a more discrete place. The baby can wait the 10 seconds for mommy to duck around the corner.

Parallel: People smoke in public places. Not everybody finds smoking offensive. Should people who smoke not worry about causing other people offense because other people are okay with it?

Parallel that doesn't include health hazards: Spitting. Some people just up and spit in public. Not everyone finds it offensive. Should people who spit be free to do it because some people do not find it offensive?

Parallel the third: People who are talking extremely loudly or even shouting in a public place. (Especially about a private matter.) Some people don't find this offensive. But if the people who are shouting about a private matter in a public place take offense at being overheard, who takes the blame for that? Would you prefer that the rest of the people in the public place be evacuated so that these two people can shout in peace?

And the definition of a public place is that it is "owned" by the public. (Or those who take charge of it on the behalf of the public, like the government.) I'm talking parks, fairgrounds, plazas, etc. You seem to be thinking of privately-owned buildings or business that accept the public into their establishments in order to sell them things. Those locations have the right to ask people to leave if they are making other patrons uncomfortable.
Somehow, though, I get the feeling you would oppose the owner's right to do this if people complained about it.

Really? I mean, that's quite something. How far would you go? That's basically what the OP is asking?
What you're saying is very open and suggest you'd go very far. Does it include changing behaviour, haircut, clothes, friends? Giving up hobbies? Pets? Putting up with whatever he wants or does?
Because in a way, that's what you're saying, and I doubt very much you would or could - or that that is what you mean to say.
Maybe I'm nitpicking on words

To me a perfect match to me is more that you may have to compromise, not sacrifice. A sacrifice is something or someone that means a helluva lot to you. And it means that much for a reason.
And with a perfect match, I can also say "No". I would never say I'd be willing to sacrifice whatever I could, whenever he wanted it. Sod that!

I thought of that.. and if I can get both of them I will. The game plan would then to make them into one of those desk perpetual pendulum things.

Answer the question, Leigh. :P

And to answer your question with a question: Is it not easier for one person to change their behavior a little bit, than it is for everyone around them to change their behavior a lot? Or do you just want the whole rest of the world to change for you?
Isn't that the exact attitude you think I/the person phoning ahead has?

Is not one of the functions of a public place to be somewhere anyone can go, no restrictions on movement or prohibiting anyone from entering? And yet, some breastfeeding mothers attempt to do exactly that - prohibit or restrict someone from moving in a public place - when they breastfeed their infant in public, and then drive away anybody who comes close on the grounds of "indecency", "perversion", or "lurking".

Does that then follow, Leigh, that we should always put up with babies when they are tired, sick, or hungry, when they start to cry and whine, when they start to burp and smell, if they are in public places with easy recourse to more private or reclusive areas, because they have needs that should be respected? If the baby is really having that much trouble, shouldn't the baby stay at home, where care is more easily provided, and with all the privacy anyone could desire?

If the mother/parent is refusing to take their troubled infant to a more private or reclusive area when their baby is obviously bothering other people around them, then that's all on the parent, not the baby, and the parent is a conscious adult aware of the fact that they can go somewhere more private.

But if a mother/parent did want to make themselves and their baby a spectacle in a public place, they shouldn't ***** about it when people treat them like a spectacle.

(((((Leigh)))))

You can kinda say that...

Are we talking human sacrifices?

hiya , hope all is well on your side

How can i get a soulmate?

perfection doesn't exist, but there is always perfect for each other... that being said, i agree, perfect or not, it's always a give and take in a relationship, regardless...

part of peoples problems in finding a girl/boyfriend is what their idea of what perfect is, most are unrealistic views... then they confuse that with "settling" because they can't find the perfect person...

Hmmm...somehow, reading thru the answers on this thread...is depressing..
Here I thought relationships were all about give and take...sacrificing something doesnt necessarily mean losing yourself or acting like a martyr...its suppose to be about adjusting, giving way and being able to empathize with another's need and build each other up by small or great acts of selflessness...it is not demanded from someone..it is freely given out of love, care and respect.
Well, that is my opinion on the matter...