The debate over whether or not women should breastfeed their children in public is a hot one, to say the least.
Even though the practice is as old as humanity itself, people continue to be outraged whenever they see a mother’s breast in public.
Thankfully, times are changing and mothers everywhere are beginning to fight back, sometimes in hilarious fashion.
Such is the case with third-time mom, Melanie Dudley, who is fed up with all the mom-shaming.
When she was dining out with her family while on vacation in Cabo San Lucas, she decided to feed her little one too.
Although she was covered at first, she knew that the weather was too hot to stay that way.
As any good mother would, she removed the cover so her baby could enjoy some fresh air while she fed.
In an interview with TODAY, she said,
“I did have the cover on, but it was so hot. It was like, 95 degrees, and my little baby was sweating. I said, ‘You know what? I’m on vacation, I’m taking this off.’”
It wasn’t long after she uncovered, so her baby could breathe, that a man arrogantly asked her to “cover up”.
She recalls the embarrassing incident in an interview with Yahoo.
“I was on vacation in Cabo San Lucas with my entire family and a man asked me to cover myself. I’m usually discreet, but we were seated in the back of the restaurant.”
In a fit of shock and dismay, she asked her husband to hand her something to cover up with.
Rather than covering her 3-month-old son’s face in the overwhelming heat though, she decided to cover up something else.
The irritated mom sarcastically put the cover over her own head to satisfy the man’s request.
She told TODAY that she basically reacted to the man’s ridiculous request on instinct.
“I just put it over my head. I don’t know why. It wasn’t like a salacious fight or anything. That was just my response. I had no words so I thought, I’ll just cover my head instead.”
Her husband took a quick photo of his wife’s hilarious response and sent it to his mom, who posted it on Facebook later.
A friend of the mother-in-law requested to make the photo public, where it immediately went viral.
Posted just over two weeks ago, the photo has gotten 136 reactions, over 220,000 shares, and endless amounts of praise for her audacity!
Although there are some jerk-comments peppered in throughout the feed, it’s the overwhelming amount of camaraderie that Melanie is choosing to focus on.
She is elated at the resounding feeling of unity that has evolved out of her reaction. She said,
“I just can’t believe it. It’s wild to me. If there’s a larger message to this, it’s just be supportive.”
The post couldn’t have had a better timing.
The incident with Melanie and her son come right on the heels of the now-infamous model, Mara Martin.
The Swimsuit Illustrated model has been bashed all over social media for breastfeeding while walking the runway in Miami’s Swim Week.
In a way, this photo and the praise that’s erupted from it serves as the perfect backlash to the would-be mom-shamers out there.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
Melanie’s show of backbone stands to serve as an inspiration to all mothers that choose to breastfeed their babies and show the world that there is absolutely nothing wrong with such a natural act.
“I hope the momentum keeps growing. Let’s be supportive of women who want to nurse in public, with or without a cover. I mean, just do your thing. It’s not hurting anyone.”
Do your thing, Melanie!
