Public breastfeeding


Written by Jakob Wood

Society’s hypocritical views on breasts


Breasts are the object of affection in all sorts of advertisements, commercials and movies, yet there remains a social stigma about the natural act of public breast-feeding.

            The problem here is that women’s breasts are being appreciated for everything except their natural function.

            In the name of fashion, cleavage is flaunted to emphasize how sexy Victoria’s Secret’s new line of lingerie is.

Carl’s Jr hired Kate Upton, a model widely revered for her large breast size, to advertise the juicyness of their must-have cheeseburger.

And Transformers, originally a children’s cartoon, capitalized on an adult audience by putting Megan Fox in a skin tight, low cut crop top.

But when a woman uses her breasts for their intended purpose, to provide nourishment to her child, it is still frowned upon and even ridiculed for being a form of public indecency.

This goes back to the unnecessary sexualization of the breast. Shirtless men are widely accepted from the beach setting to the front pages of magazines. However, the display of women’s nipples anywhere is considered nudity.

The only difference between male and female nipples is that women are designed to feed their offspring. The male nipple is utterly useless, therefore it is somehow acceptable to flaunt.

To clarify any potential misunderstandings, there is a difference between the advocacy for public breast-feeding and the movement to free the female nipple.

While I agree that all nipples should be perceived equally, it is more important that the stigma about breast-feeding be extinguished.

Because of this, public breast-feeding is discouraged by those who embrace the traditional sense of the human anatomy.

Even with laws set in place to protect women who breast-feed their children in public, they are still being advised to retreat to a more private setting and sometimes even escorted away.

The most common response to women who feed their baby in public is to cover up. What people don’t consider is the comfortability of the baby being fed. Having a blanket thrown over your head while eating sounds utterly ridiculous, so why do it to a baby? There shouldn’t be shame involved in feeding one’s child.

Some women have even been told they could take care of their hungry child in the bathroom, and Annie Reneau of Motherhood and More had the perfect response: “Bathrooms are gross. Would you want to eat in there?”

It’s unbelievable that people would suggest such a thing. Breast-feeding has the word feed i it for a reason. It’s the baby’s mealtime.

Mothers are not trying to walk around with their breast hanging out for the whole world to see. All they want is to care for their child without being excluded from their regular social activities.

It’s hard enough that mothers sometimes have to give up a job to raise their child. The tough role of motherhood should be praised, not ridiculed.