There’s still a lot of stigma when it comes to breastfeeding, whether you do it or you don’t. Moms might face judgement if they choose not to breastfeed or are unable to. But at the same time, people also judge moms who do breastfeed β especially if they breastfeed in public. Sometimes it seems like women just can’t win.
Because breasts are often sexualized, some people believe moms need to cover up or even breastfeed in private in order to be “respectful.” One mom has gone viral for challenging this idea.
In a post, the mom urged people to respect babies who are just trying to eat.
After all, the point of breastfeeding is to feed a child. If adults can enjoy a meal in public, why can’t babies do the same? In the now-viral post, a mom argued that how a mom chooses to nurse her child is up to her. The post, which was shared on the Breastfeeding Mom Facebook page, shows a mom breastfeeding in public. Per Upworthy, the meme reads, “Stop telling moms they need to be respectful when they breastfeed in public when you can’t even respect the fact that a baby has just as much of a right to eat in public as everyone else.”
The post also contained a more detailed explanation, which stated, in part: “This is how a mother respectfully nurses a baby. With dignity and confidence… If you choose to cover up, that’s awesome. If you don’t, that’s awesome too.
“The purpose of nursing isn’t about who shows more boob or who doesn’t,” the post continued. “The purpose is to feed a child. And whether it’s done covered, in a private place, or uncovered in the middle of a restaurant, does not define the amount of respect you have.”
Again, the post emphasized that “the stigma needs to end” because parents “are just trying to feed our babies.”
A lot of women are totally over being judged for breastfeeding in public.
The topic has also come up on various threads on Reddit. In one post, a mom described going out to eat with her family and choosing “a table in the corner to try and be more discreet with feeding.”
Still, this wasn’t good enough for a man who saw her and complained. She wrote that an “elderly man a couple tables down said disgustedly to his wife, ‘I guess you donβt have to cover up private parts these days when you nurse,’ as he looked over at my table and me feeding by fresh 5 week old baby.”
She asked other moms to share how they respond to negative comments like these.
Moms shared their comebacks.
In terms of how to respond to people who judge women for breastfeeding in public, a lot of moms had creative ideas. One mom suggested saying, “it’s dinnertime. he’s eating dinner with his family.” A second person suggested making “direct eye contact.”
“I once saw a picture of a women who was asked to cover up while breastfeeding,” a third person wrote. “She put a cloth over her own head. They never specified what she should cover up. I think about this all the time.”
Several women also wrote about how the attention they’ve gotten while breastfeeding in public has made them uncomfortable. “I’ve been keeping it in my back pocket ‘I find it really perverted that you’re sexualizing me feeding my baby,'” another person wrote.
To some, it seems unfair that men are not held to the same standards. “It’s mammary tissue and a nipple,” one person pointed out. “Men have them too and walk around with them exposed all the time and no one cares.”
