What's the big deal with taking a picture that happens to have a nursing mother/child in it? Or purposely taking a picture or painting a portrait of such? Why are pictures like this banned and blocked from things like facebook on a daily basis? Why is our society so nipple-phobic that breasts are constantly sexualized and to show anything else is a dirty joke or shameful?
What about breastfeeding in public? Here are two websites that discuss various state and federal laws protecting a nursing mother and child, NCSL and 007b.
Here's my experience-
Hubby took a picture of me nursing our eldest a day or two after he was born and the extended family balked at it saying how inappropriate it was. Somehow, after that experience, pictures just never seemed to be taken if I was breastfeeding one of my children.
I think there was only the one picture of Munchkin nursing. Unfortunately, I don't think there was ever a picture taken of me nursing Little Miss. I found two pictures from last Christmas of Pumpkin nursing. I think they're the only ones.
The more confident I got with my parenting and breastfeeding skills and the larger my family has gotten, the less I cared what others thought if I breastfed in public. I am usually very discreet, as I have an overall high level of modesty. With my youngest child I was able to purchase some actual shirts designed for breastfeeding, before that I wore baggy t-shirts. The benefits to my child far outweigh a stranger's rude comment or disapproving glance.
The nice thing with moving to a more eclectic part of the country, I often was complimented for nursing my babies and especially on how happy they were. Even if all of this was different, it doesn't matter. No one asks a bottle fed baby to be taken to a bathroom or hidden under cloth.
I hope my children continue to grow up in a culture where breastfeeding is normal.
Click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
0 comments:
Post a Comment