Becoming a new mom is, while difficult at times, a beautiful thing. Bringing a new life into this world takes a strong human being, both physically and mentally. Moms everywhere should be celebrated all year long.
Unfortunately, moms have historically undergone a lot of scrutinies when it comes to breastfeeding.
While it’s totally natural and necessary for a mom to feed her baby, it hasn’t always been legal to do it in public. When you think about the bare bones of that concept, it’s absolutely ridiculous. Moms should be able to feed their babies when they’re hungry!
Finally, new moms everywhere can rejoice, because Utah and Idaho recently became the 49th and 50th states to enact laws that protect breastfeeding mothers in public. Other states like New York and New Jersey have also passed laws that require workplaces to be more accommodating to new moms.
Things are looking up, although it certainly hasn’t been an easy road.
Since these new rulings in Utah and Idaho, women can no longer be cited or fined for public indecency if they’re seen breastfeeding in public. Representative Justin Fawson is responsible for the Breastfeeding Protection Act that passed in Utah. He told a local news station that,
“I don’t feel like we should ever relegate a mom to a restroom to breastfeed their child.”
However, his opinion was not shared by all of the lawmakers in the state.
Representative R. Curt Webb believed that breastfeeding is too “in your face,” and wouldn’t pass the bill until language stating that the breast wouldn’t need to be covered was removed. The bill passed, but only narrowly, 6-5.
Many people think that breastfeeding is an exhibitionist behavior, and deem it indecent. However, I’d be willing to bet that 100% of new moms would say that breastfeeding has nothing to do with flaunting any part of the body and that there is absolutely nothing sexy about breastfeeding. It’s a bonding moment of nourishment between a mom and her baby, and it can be difficult, painful, and awkward – especially if you’re trying to keep a towel covering everything up with a wiggly baby in your lap.
Many celebrity moms have used their voice to advocate for the normalization of breastfeeding.
Chrissy Teigen famously snaps back at online comments that shame her for sharing photos of her breastfeeding her babies.
In a since-deleted tweet in response to one of her breastfeeding pictures, one Twitter user said that “Menstruating, sex, and childbirth are natural, too, but that doesn’t mean I want to see pics of it.”
And this is how Teigen responded:
Sassy, but effective.
Many other celebrities, including Alyssa Milano, Gisele Bundchen, and Pink have all taken to their social media profiles to try and normalize breastfeeding.
Even though it’s now legal to do this completely natural thing in public, there will most likely always be some folks out there who will shame women for using their bodies in their intended ways. That’s why it’s so important for mamas everywhere to keep standing up for their rights!
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