A dirty look. That’s what I saw flash from an older lady towards a mom of two who had stopped in the mall to breastfeed her youngest child. I wouldn’t have noticed had my cousin not previously complained on Facebook about how she was asked to cover up for publicly breastfeeding. Sure enough, the more women I asked, the more stories I received about public breastfeeding shaming.
What we men haven’t recognized is that this is another slight against traditional family values. Breastfeeding is about the healthiest thing a mother can do, both for her child and for her. But strangely enough, despite a society devoted to organic, pesticide-free and other labels, we have a large number of people who would rather force our mothers to formula feed.
Somehow this avoids exposing breasts in the mall, even under one of the displayed underwear models.
Gentlemen, if this continues, our wives will be shamed into staying home or making unhealthy choices. Public breastfeeding is also a gentleman’s fight. We need to start advocating for our wives and the wives of others. We can’t say we hold traditional values if other trample on our family rights right in front of us.
My story has a good ending. I walked past the scowling woman and asked the young mother “Can I help you with anything?” Sure enough, her older son had dropped a toy. I retrieved it while her hands were full. By the time I turned back, the old hag was gone.
NG36B is a husband, father to four kids and an active duty Navy Officer. He blogs regularly at The Navy’s Grade 36 Bureaucrat.
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