By leaving nursing mothers out, or covering them when they're shown, these media depictions reinforce the false idea that breasts are sex organs, and that their primary purpose is to serve straight men's sexual interests rather than young children's nutrition and immune systems. The absence of openly nursing mothers is a pretty glaring omission considering how common it is to see women's breasts in a sexual context. Now, moms should cover as much as they want, but when women are only ever shown nursing while covered up it reinforces the idea that there is something shameful about women's bodies, and creates a situation where women who don't or can't nurse under a cover are mistreated.įor instance, in Similac USA's ad campaign featuring various parenting "tribes" at the park, the nursing moms are all under covers. It's almost impossible to find an example of a mother nursing anywhere in movies, and especially television, unless she's under a conspicuous nursing cover that totally obscures her upper body and her baby. 'Cause I'm running out of patience for crap like this: We need more people in the media and in public life speaking up to challenge nonsense like the following sexist messages that are, sadly, still prevalent. We need more moms, and more women in general, calling the shots at every level of the mass media.
#SHANNON WHIRRY BREASTFEEDING HOW TO#
Children's biological realities, their agency in the act of breastfeeding, and women's agency both as mothers and as people who get to choose how to use our bodies, are all erased. (I sincerely believe that's why some people, especially men, get so angry about seeing nursing moms in public.) Yet rather than letting breastfeeding stand as a reminder that women's bodies exist for other things besides satisfying the needs of men, many media portrayals of nursing moms distort the truth about breastfeeding to reinforce the idea that women and our bodies exist for straight men only.
Seriously.īreastfeeding itself challenges that very idea, by reminding people that breasts not only have a purpose, but that purpose has absolutely nothing to do with straight men or sex. We're not humans of our own, with our own needs or reasons for being, we're just things for men to use as they please. From storylines that slut-shame women for being sexual beings to commercials that use scantily-clad women as bait for male consumers (who are all presumed to be straight and cisgender) we're collectively taught that women who actually want or enjoy sex are bad, and that women's bodies exist solely to fulfill men's sexual desires.
Growing up in a sexist and sex-negative culture, we are all inundated with images and ideas that simultaneously stigmatize, sexualize, and objectify women's bodies.
Sexist representations of breastfeeding in the media reinforce a lot of misinformation and stereotypes that cause people - particularly those who aren't targeted by the pro-breastfeeding messaging moms get through childbirth classes, healthcare professionals, etc. Once I started watching and re-watching many shows and movies through my new lens as a nursing mother, though, it started to make more sense. As a nursing mom and a member of multiple breastfeeding support groups, I used to feel confused that while the public health community and many parent groups proudly proclaim that "breast is best" for babies, so many breastfeeding moms would report being shamed, harassed, and even discriminated against for actually choosing to nurse their kids.
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