Recently, it has become a big issue about women who breastfeed in public. Let me be the one to say, that no one gives a damn if you think it's disgusting. A baby cries when it is hungry, and a mother who chooses to breastfeed (which is the healthiest option for the baby) needs to feed it quickly.
I have seen video after video of mothers getting called out for breastfeeding, and they're told to leave because they have their breasts out simply to do what is completely natural. I have seen videos comparing breastfeeding mothers to a woman with her breasts out in a "sexy" shirt (and the blatant failure to recognize that they are NO different), and some videos that show just how plain rude people can be.
The first person I texted when I decided to write this piece was my mother. I asked her if I was breastfed, to which she responded that yes, I was. I did not even have to tell her what I was doing, she replied with probably the best response that only my mother could give:
"And I didn't give a shit who saw me do it."
She is just one of many women who do not give a shit what you think about them breastfeeding or pumping in public. The mothers of the world do what they need to do to feed their children. People "ooh" and "aww" at the video of a mother dog feeding her puppies, but when a human woman does the same process, it is considered disgusting. Even if our society are constantly surrounded by breasts, just in a "sexier" form, people turn away in disgust from women's breast doing what they are there to do. Breasts are two mounds of fat and muscle tissue there to produce milk when a mother produces offspring, they are not there for your sexual pleasure.
People everywhere are protesting. Propaganda posters, articles, commercials, and viral Internet videos are showing up everywhere for people to show their support for breastfeeding women everywhere. As we should, because the only reason this is considered "disgusting" is because women's breast have been hyper-sexualized for decades. When will we finally move on from the sexualization of breasts and realize that they are natural, and necessary? Breastfeeding moms, we stand with you. Breastfeed wherever and whenever you need to.
