Society nowadays seems to be more forgiving of sexual advertisements, attire, etc. They are more accepting of sex as a part of our culture. Because of this, more and more people are able to come across an image of an attractive woman showing parts of her body which would be considered revealing areas to some and ordinary to others. The controversial topic of a breastfeeding woman and a provocatively dressed woman is one that has reached major popularity in modern times.
Although I do not have children of my own, I believe that a mother should be able to feed her baby at the exact time her baby is hungry. Whether that be inside a mall or inside a home, the fact does not change that her baby is in need of food.
I think the people who have an issue with this are the people who can look at a woman and only see her assets or the people who are sucked into popular culture today who focus solely on living a reality show lifestyle rather than a rational one. There is no reason why a breast feeding woman should be tormented for nurturing her child while a model, for example, is praised for her sensuality.
In addition to being narrowly minded, people are also not educated on the physiology of breasts. Breasts are not on a woman’s body for the sole purpose of sexual pleasure, but for the purpose of lactating and being able to nourish a child. Would a person feel differently towards a waitress at Hooter’s with nearly her entire breasts out in the open and nipples barely covered by the top of her tank top?

It’s very interesting because I actually watched these videos (and the others he puts out) a while ago because a friend posted them on social media and I still couldn’t believe that in this day and age people have a strong opposition to this. This all starts with the norms set by society, not just social, but also sexual because that is a key reason on why people have such an issue with this. It seems that everywhere we turn, from commercials on TV and ads online or in print, women are always being sexualized, and yet something as necessary as nourishing a child comes with such harsh criticism, even when we have models and other celebrities posing with practically nothing on and they get more praise. I know at the end of the day it’s people’s views, even some people who are not conservative have an issue with this, but in the essence of what’s going on, it’s a child feeding. I don’t get self-conscious of have issues with other people eating in public, so I’m not sure why so many others have negative views when the baby truly doesn’t have control over its food source.

It would be interesting how the people at large would react if it was a model or a celebrity who was out and breastfeeding in public, to see people’s and the media’s reaction. It seems that people need people in higher spotlight to see differently on views, because just like children, even young and older adults are still very impressionable depending on who or what is involved.

I loved seeing other women support the breastfeeding woman in the above videos you linked. The only way our culture will change is if more and more people normalize it, meaning the more we educate our women about how it is perfectly fine to breastfeed in public and the more we educate men about how breasts’ main function is not to sexually please, the better. There needs to be conversation, which there already has been with movements like Free the Nipple; and not just nationally (though politicians do need to wake up), but within our communities since we can make the biggest impacts there first. For example, you see a woman getting harassed for feeding her child in public, stand up for her and step in! Start conversations! Link up with other women for support! Maybe there should even be more laws that punishes people who harass women breastfeeding in public (see http://breastfeedinglaw.com, specifically the bottom section titled: “Why Is An Enforcement Provision Important?”), because what good is a breastfeeding law when no one is enforcing it?

If you are feeling uncomfortable breastfeeding in public there are many, many parenting blogs meant for answering any questions and calming those nerves, like this one: http://www.todaysparent.com/baby/breastfeeding/10-tips-for-breastfeeding-in-public/. The most important point I took away from the above link is know your right to breastfeed. As the Ontario Human Rights Commission specifically states:

“No one should prevent you from nursing your child simply because you are in a public area. They should not ask you to ‘cover up,’ disturb you, or ask you to move to another area that is more ‘discreet.'”

This is not some worldwide, sweeping issue at the moment, it seems like a lot of other countries have figured it out. When will the people and culture of the big and powerful United States catch up?

I really don’t understand the disgust if people seeing breastfeeding as a bad thing. A breast is seen as a nurturing unit, connecting mother to child. It’s beautiful and should only be seen as beautiful. Not only does it induce oxytocin in the mother’s hormonal balance, but it gives the child a makeup of strength and immunity to sickness. It’s the key element to building a stronger bond from mother to child and healthy babies. To see it as disgusting is something that society does to corner women to feel bad about sexuality. Boobs are seen as sexual things and taking it out in public brings a negative connotation. I believe in mother’s right to breastfeed her child whenever she pleases.

I find very ridiculous that not only men but woman as well are so narrow minded about the natural process of breast feeding. Also how blanting rude people can be so voice their opinons so cruly. It just goes to show how some people were brought up to think that breast feeding is wrong but to glorfy the breast as something sexy or more appealing. It is extremly sad that is how society is today, how it is more accepting of cleavage then feeding an infant. Also I find it extremely disrespectful to make someone feel terrible about what they naturally have to do for their baby when they are hungry. It is just plain ridiculous because a great majority of the time that I have witnessed is that when women are breast feeding they are covered up with a blanket so there is no logical reason for people to be disgusted with something they cannot see.

I have seen these videos before and i was just so shocked that people didn’t care about the women cleavage showing and they thought it was “hot” and blamed it on the shirt. that showing cleavage was more socially acceptable then the women actual breast feeding her baby. People were disgusted and felt uncomfortable. it was shocking to me that people feel so uncomfortable to something that is so natural. But i think people aren’t familiar with breast feeding because women normally don’t do it outside of their home because most women think they’d be judged and we see in the video, that mostly people do. Its sad to see that most people do and they just need to be a little bit more open and accepting.

I completely agree; why is something that nourishes babies considered disgusting? If a breastfeeding mother is seen as disgusting or makes people uncomfortable, why don’t people get disgusted in seeing other people eating? Only because society sees breast as overtly sexualized, the idea of them being on display makes many people uncomfortable which makes no sense since that is how a baby is nourished.

I have seen this social experiment regarding breast feeding before. I did expect some people to think that the mother breastfeeding was “disgusting” because that is what I hear a lot lately. People nowadays think it is something unnatural. Seeing people be disgusted didn’t surprise me, what surprised me was when there was a woman sitting next to her showing too much cleavage and apparently that was “sexy” and not “disgusting. It is unbelievable, I am not a mother yet but watching this video really infuriated me because people think it is okay to put mothers down for doing something very beneficial for their child. According to New York’s Department of Health, breastfeeding has many health benefits for the mother and child. Breast milk is helps fight diseases, it is easily digested, it provides nutrients, and it creates a special bond between the two. There is many more benefits that you can look up here (https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/nutrition/wic/breastfeeding/importance.htm). What people don’t understand is that it is only “disgusting” to them because they have sexualized breasts. Why do men think that breasts are meant for them, women and men who think breastfeeding is “disgusting” are actually the “disgusting” ones for sexualizing something natural for a newborn. My point here is people need to educate themselves about the health benefits of breastfeeding and maybe they will stop thinking it is “disgusting”.

I was a teenager when I had my two boys and breastfeeding felt unnatural to me. Being raised in a Hispanic family and mostly by my grandmother, breastfeeding should have been the naturalist thing in the world but it wasn’t. I honestly think my age had a lot to do with it. Remember that my husband at the time never really cared if in breast feed in public or not, but it made me feel super uncomfortable thus made me hide a lot. Would see my cousin’s breastfeed and be super proud and unashamed. When the time came to have my third child in my late 20’s, I was super stocked about breastfeeding. Had learned so much of the benefits it had for both baby and myself. I was much opened about it with my two boys and taught them that when the time came for them to be fathers, they should support their wives and respect the bond that happens during this time. It took me over 10years to finally understand what it meant to bond and actually want to breastfeed. It never really occurred to me that some might see it as a sexual thing because woman’s cleavage or nipples are exposed. Guess we have a lot of ground to learn and educate.