So the woman who ’broke the internet’ with pictures of her arse has said that she wouldn’t breastfeed in public unless it was an emergency situation and she was fully covered. Right. So it’s apparently OK to show the world your naked body in all its splendour, but God forbid anyone should catch a glimpse of breasts in action doing what nature intended them to do.
People who feel uncomfortable with public breastfeeding do so, I’d imagine, because the female body is constantly seen as a sexual commodity. Boobs are used to sell clothing, to sell perfume, makeup - hell they’re used to sell pretty much everything, especially sex. Breastfeeding isn’t a sexual act and so viewing boobs in this way throws people’s perceptions out of whack and they don’t know where to look, or what to feel. I’ve heard it all on online forums: breastfeeding is incest, breastfeeding in public is as bad as going to the loo in public and breastfeeding an older child is akin to child abuse. Any why this venom? Simple: because people view women’s bodies as sexual objects. A woman’s nipple? Sexual. A mans - even though it looks exactly the same? Well of course people don’t mind seeing a man topless.
I have no issue with Kim Kardashian selling her body to make a living. She apparently made $5 million alone from the sex tape that was the catalyst for making her entire family famous in the first place. Fair play to you, if that’s what you’re into. But I do feel quite peeved that she’s not being a better advocate for other women who choose to feed their babies based on their child’s needs, and not on where they happen to be sitting at any given time.
She said, “I still personally wouldn't breastfeed at a restaurant with a bunch of people I didn't know staring at me. I've seen this before and remember tweeting how shocked I was. Now that I'm a mom, I'm not that shocked, especially if you have a few kids and can't leave to breastfeed one kid in the bathroom while leaving the others at the table. But I still personally wouldn't do it, unless it was an emergency situation and I was fully covered." So Kim, are you suggesting that first time mums, with no other kids in tow, should ideally retreat to the jacks to feed their child? Please.
She does say, however, that mums should do whatever makes them comfortable. Of course. That little caveat. Do what you want but I’m not going to be the weirdo with my boobs out letting a baby feed off them, is basically what she’s saying.
I have a niggling suspicion that if Kim could somehow make money off breastfeeding that her aversion to doing it publicly wouldn’t be long dissipating. I can see it now: brelfie after brelfie after brelfie. But this is the thing: breastfeeding doesn’t cost anything and corporations aren’t making millions out of selling it, so no one is interested in paying her to promote it. She did take cash to flog anti-morning sickness tablets during her pregnancy with Saint, however, so at least child bearing has been somewhat profitable for her.
As for having positive advocates for breastfeeding, public or otherwise, there are some celebrities who have stepped up to the plate to debunk any myths and to attempt to reclaim breasts back from marketers. Alyssa Milano, Gwen Stefani, Gisele, Salma Hayek, Angelia Jolie, Miranda Kerr, Pink and even Kim’s sister Kourtney Kardashian, to name but a few. Breastfeeding isn’t something weird or strange that should be hidden away. It’s not private or distasteful. It’s just a mother feeding her child. With boobs. Get over it.
No comments:
Post a Comment