Have you ever seen a cubicle labelled Praying/Namaz ‘Box’ in an airport? Or for that matter, a ‘Bathroom Box’? An ‘Eating Box’? I’m guessing your answer will be ‘No’. Most public places in Pakistan and other countries have designated spaces for these activities and they are pleasantly referred to as Prayer Room/Area or Masjid/Mosque, Restroom/Washroom and Café/Restaurant. Because that’s what they are – spaces, areas and/or rooms.
Then WHY did the CAA feel the need to install a portable cabin at the Lahore Airport, where mothers can supposedly nurse their babies in privacy and call it a ‘Breastfeeding Box’?
I can’t even….
But I will try. Because someone needs to say it. And someone needs to address all the people gaily commenting on these posts, both the supporters and the naysayers. So here goes…
A box.
They called it a box. Let that sink in.
It LOOKS like a box. Let that sink in even deeper.
I mean, how hard was it to designate a room for mothers to nurse their young ones comfortably? Clearly very hard. But it was so much easier to design a BOX and paint it bright pink to attract EVERYONE’S attention, right? And to make matters worse, label it ‘Breastfeeding Box’.
There are so many things wrong with this box, figuratively and literally. For starters, our society likes to compartmentalize people in general and women in particular, into categories.
“She wears sleeveless” equates “She doesn’t say namaz”.
“She works outside the house” equals “She doesn’t give her family time”.
“She filed for a khula” becomes “She doesn’t understand the obligations of marital life”.
And so on.
Boxes. Boxes. Boxes.
Like we are all clones who lead identical lives.
We have a habit of never looking into the context of a situation, especially where women are concerned and an even worse habit of jumping to (usually) the wrong conclusions. Oh, and an EVEN worse habit of standing by those assumptions like our lives depend on it.
This breastfeeding box is a reflection of all those, pun absolutely intended, boxed mindsets.
To many social media sharers and commenters, this box seems harmless at best and an applaudable effort by the CAA at worst. After all, nursing mothers can now nurse in private. What more could they want? Ahem…any kind of privacy is lost when you paint an oddly-shaped container hot pink and label it ‘Breastfeeding Box’. All those men who look at women nursing their babies as if they are dancing naked in the streets have now been given a reason to look MORE, not less. To stare. To virtually strip naked all these poor women with their x-ray vision.
And then there is the branding on the box. Breastfeeding. Many a social media warrior have come out to protest that there is nothing wrong with the term breastfeeding. It is a natural process to feed helpless little humans. And they are right.
But the context? Not so much.
The word ‘breast’ evokes all kinds of images in men in general and Pakistani men in particular; most of them being of a sexual, sensual, wanton, unscrupulous and promiscuous woman. So, rest assured when you print ‘Breastfeeding Box’ on a pink dabba and put it in an international airport of one of the largest cities of the country, there will be many things about women’s breasts running through a man’s mind and none of them will have anything to do with helping a helpless little human survive.
And then of course, there are those who say that this is the first step. Things will get better. Again, another example of a flawed system and culture. The wait-and-see approach.
“Mother, my husband isn’t a good man. He uses foul language and is abusive.”
“Don’t be so hasty. It will get better with time.”
After years of emotional, mental, physical or God Forbid all kinds of abuse, the poor daughter returns to her parents’ house, kids in tow.
Marriage is but one example. As a society, we like to take things as they come without doing proper research and gaining insight. We build buildings without investing in good foundations. We build roads without ensuring proper drainage. We produce children without investing in parenting skills.
Because it will get better. Like there’s a magic wand which will appear out of nowhere to make improvements without any effort on our part.
But I digress.
A simple consumer survey would have helped the CAA understand their market – the nursing mums they are catering to. With basic questions such as where they would like the space to be located in the airport, what color schemes, facilities (changing table, wash basin, diaper pail, an area for slightly older kids so they can stay with the mother if need be, and so forth) and furniture they would prefer and what they would like it to be called (mother’s room, nursing room). On the other hand, the CAA could have also done a tour of public places where nursing facilities are currently available for mothers, such as malls and gained some insight. Dolmen Mall in Clifton, Karachi, had decent facilities the last time I checked. Even if they had interrogated their own staff and crew, they would have gained some know-how into how nursing facilities are managed internationally.
Needless to say, had they picked even one of these methods to actually understand their customers, they would not have installed a bright pink ‘Breastfeeding Box’ in the middle of Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore.
When Mum Needs a Break 