Breastfeeding Women

"Nursing in public seemed to be a non-issue in colonial America. Our foremothers were expected to maintain a busy household, which included feeding the baby, and breastfeeding in the market or other public areas was not a cause for uproar. At that time, breastfeeding was the only way to feed a baby, either by the natural mother or a wet-nurse. The Puritans believed breasts were created for the nourishment of children and strongly encouraged women to nurse their own babies. Breastfeeding in public was commonplace for colonial women because they lived in a society that supported breastfeeding." -Breastfeeding USA

Today marks the end of World Breastfeeding Awareness Week (August 1-7).  One thing I would like to bring awareness to is the hiding of breastfeeding in our society coming from both left and right, from both Christians and the secular. A social experiment video by Joey Salads shows the hypocrisy of people who are okay with "sexy boobs" but not with the natural, biological, and necessary phenomenon of feeding a hungry baby. Nursing covers can be dangerously stifling for a baby especially in warm weather and sometimes they just dislike them and won't settle to eat without more space.

Why should it be a social crime for a baby to eat publicly but not for the rest of us to eat publicly?

I come from a Christian background of modesty and of veiling in church and I support uncovered public breastfeeding. We live in the first era in history that has hidden this natural thing from the public eye. A generation of formula and bottles has left wet-nurses (a common job!) and public breastfeeding things of the past.

As a mom like any other breastfeeding mom, I support breastfeeding in public and disapprove of the censorship of breastfeeding images on social media. Breastfeeding certainly should be normalized in our secular culture which has already embraced multiple expressions of feminism.

Photo by Ivette Ivens

As a Christian, I also add that public and visible breastfeeding is completely in line with modesty and elegance, and can be done tastefully without cover to the exclusion of other "free the nip" movements and without compromising one's held convictions on sexuality and purity.

It's called feeding a hungry baby. And it's beautiful.

Photo by Ivette Ivens

Photo collection sources: Rene Johnson of Saving Our Sons; Ivette Ivens

Theotokos Milk-Giver
Orthodox Christian Iconography