I am seeing so many incidents of breastfeeding discrimination lately in my newsfeed. I would be willing to bet that incidents are not on the rise, but that women are feeling more empowered to speak out when something does happen. It is still very unlikely that anything negative will happen to you when you breastfeed in public. The majority of women go through their entire breastfeeding journey with no such experience. We should still continue to breastfeed in public at every opportunity to expose the world to beauty, nurturance and love.
We also want to make sure we do not become too reactive. We don’t want to create an “Us versus Them” atmosphere with society. We live in a culture where breastfeeding is not normalized. The majority of incidents are ignorant employees that need further training. The businesses usually make a public statement of apology and express their support of breastfeeding mothers. It is our responsibility to accept these apologies and look at these businesses as allies in our mission.
The most important thing we can do is spread the message that we will continue to breastfeed wherever and whenever we choose. The manner in which we have the biggest impact on society is simply living our lives and breastfeeding on demand. Non-breastfeeding parents can show love and nurturance while in public; this helps too because breastfeeding is an act of love like all the rest. Negativity toward breastfeeding is a symptom of a society sick with a lack of love.
We will not tolerate harassment; we will mobilize and act in the appropriate way in such an event. But we will not be sucked down the hole of negativity. We hold our heads up high, we smile at our children, we hug our families, and we extend information and tolerance to those who have not yet been exposed to this.
Breastfeeding will be normal. Normalize love.
Abby Theuring, MSW
