So after A discussion on this topic I had with someone today....
Can I just say that I HATE when people say “oh I totally support a woman breastfeeding in public but they really need to cover up because (children don’t need to see it/less people will stare/it would make others more comfortable/nobody wants to see that/she should respect herself more than that/how would her husband feel about it)”
Well then no, you don’t support it.
- how about we teach our children that it’s normal to breastfeed babies, so when they see it they don’t think anything of it? When you take a child to the beach do they lose their minds about women basically wearing bras and panties to swim in?? NO. Because they’ve been taught that is normal.
- who cares if people stare? That’s their problem. And don’t tell me nobody is staring when you drape a giant daggum tent over your body and try to feed a baby who is screaming because they are hot and covered and hungry.
- um. I’m sorry. I really don’t give a single crap if ANYONE ELSE feels comfortable with how I am feeding my child. As long as I am comfortable and my baby is comfortable, that’s all that matters.
- nobody wants to see that? Really? Pretty much everybody on the planet wants to see some boobs as long as they are on a magazine, Victoria’s secret model, in a music video, in a movie, on a babe at the beach, in porn. The only time people don’t want to see it is when it’s not sexualized and it’s used for it’s natural purpose.
- how much skin a woman shows while breastfeeding has NO CORRELATION to the amount that she respects herself. Sometimes your child is screaming and your flustered and hot and you flash some people trying to calm your child down and pop your boob in it’s mouth. But you know what? Anybody that sees that has had FAIR amount of warning of what was coming. The screaming baby, the raising or lowering of shirt, the unlcipping of the nursing bra or tank, and THEN the breast exposure. If you didn’t want to see it, you should have looked away 45 seconds ago.
- most women discuss this topic with their husband/boyfriend/partner. I’m sure they decided together what they both felt comfortable with. But, again, that is NOBODY ELSE’S business except the mother’s and father’s!

Lord. Why is this country SOOOOOOO far behind on breastfeeding in public not being a big deal?? Considering the size of our country it is absolutely pitiful.

I don’t care if a mother covers up with a blanket, I don’t care if she uses the 2 shirt method so only her nipple is out - which is covered by baby, I don’t care if she flops the whole dang thing out and feeds her baby, I don’t care if my children see it - they know what is happening, hell I don’t care if she flops both them bad boys out and let’s her baby pick which side! It’s not my decision how another mother feeds her baby! It’s hers!
We are teaching our young girls that breasts are something to be ashamed of and that they have to be hidden away even though God gave them to us for us to feed our babies. We are teaching young boys that breasts are only about sex and they are fun things that only get to be talked about and looked at in a sexual way. We can be better than this. Why is this so hard to understand?? Ugh.

Ok. End rant.

#NormalizeBreastfeeding
#ItIsNaturalNotSexual
#DontLikeItDontLook
#FeedDemBabies

edited to add: I just want to throw out there that I don’t show off my whole body to nurse. Would it matter if I did? No. But, I use the 2 shirt method. I have the outer shirt pulled up, a tank top that stays down, baby’s on the nipple, you see no skin. I do this for my own comfort. BUT I don’t have a problem with other people who don’t cover OR who choose to cover. That’s the point I’m making. Each mother gets to make her own decision about how much or how little skin she shows.
I’ve honestly been shamed both ways - “omg you should wear a cover” and “omg why do you use 2 shirts just flop it out”