These boobs are made for feeding, and that’s just what they’ll do

An exhausted mother is browsing through a clothing store, when her infant son begins to fuss and cry in her arms. The mother, wanting to soothe the child, asks the shop assistant if she may use a fitting room to breastfeed. The mother’s request is met with rejection, and to add insult to injury, she is directed to go outside to a nearby alley to feed the now overly distraught child.

This situation was not a hypothetical. In 2014, Ashley Clawson was legitimately banned from breastfeeding her son in a Texas Victoria’s Secret store, and given an alleyway as the closest, ‘acceptable’ alternative. A clear act of discrimination against breastfeeding women, it didn’t take long for word of the event to spread, and outrage to ensue. The creators of late-night comedy showcase, Saturday Night Live, even chimed in on the controversy during a skit:

Although breastfeeding is protected by law in the United States, and the same goes for Australia, this was not the first case, nor the last, where a woman was publically discriminated against for wanting to breastfeed her child in public. This begs the question; why is a mother publicly breastfeeding her infant child so abhorrent?

Although said in the satirical setting of an SNL faux news broadcast, the final comment made by Cecily Strong (in the above GIF) exemplifies the argument that ‘people having an issue with public breastfeeding is mainly the result of the over sexualisation of a woman’s chest’. Rather than viewing breastfeeding for what it is — a mother providing nutrients to her child — people see something sexual in the activity, resulting in the insistence that breastfeeding be done in private.

As it was once acceptable for a woman to have her breast exposed 24/7, many have theorised as to why breasts made the transition from being just another body part to being a sexual lure. Some say it was due to climate; women began to clothe themselves to protect their skin from the cold or sun damage, causing the sight of a woman’s breast to become less frequent, and more sexually desirable. Others attribute the sexualisation of breasts to the sexual revolution, which centred on female sexual empowerment, leading to the separation of sex and procreation — therefore breasts could be seen in a light that wasn’t related to nursing a child.

In most modern societies, particularly those who follow Western-like culture, the sexualisation of female breasts is propagated through the sexually explicit imagery present in most media texts. Almost on a daily basis, most individuals are confronted with sexualised material, whether this be through advertising, television shows, or magazine covers; all of which present the breast as a mere sex object. Even advertisements for PETA and Samsung computers include naked women these days.…

Many female celebrities have come out over the years in defence of public breastfeeding. I have found some of their actions in support of the issue useful in making an insightful comparison of what is and isn’t acceptable to people in terms of exposed breasts.

Take a minute to closely observe the following images; a shot of Rhianna at the 2014 CFDA Fashion Awards, a shot of Kim Kardashian from a W Magazine photoshoot, and a snap of Miley Cyrus at the 2015 MTV Music Awards.

Now, I would like you to compare the images above to the following images; a shot from a Glamour photoshoot of Olivia Wilde, the cover of W Magazine featuring Angelina Jolie, and a candid snap of Jaime King.

You see as much, if not way more, of a woman’s breasts in the first set of photos, as you would of a breastfeeding mother’s chest, evident in the second set of photos. In terms of public reaction to the photos above, Rhianna and Kim were praised for their body confidence, whilst Miley’s near nakedness was pushed aside with a simple “that’s just Miley”. However, when the celebrity breastfeeding photos were published and posted, there was intense backlash over the inappropriate nature of the images. Essentially, we can live with content that shows, partly shows, or hints at, breasts, bums, and vaginas, but we can’t live with seeing a woman breastfeeding?

Unfortunately for most women who are pregnant or have infant children, until society changes its attitude towards breasts, it’s up to nursing mothers to rise above the ignorance, and be bad ass breastfeeders. If there is going to be one thing that you take away from this article, let it be that although it may be personally uncomfortable for someone to see this very natural process, it doesn’t give them the right to publicly shame the person breastfeeding.

Originally published at The Isthmus.