Breastfeeding In Bathroom: Photo Of Baby, Husband ‘Eating’ In Bathroom Goes Viral
Breastfeeding in a bathroom is something that many nursing mothers have done, sometimes because they’ve been asked to. This week, a photo has gone viral as part of a campaign to show why nursing mothers shouldn’t be expected to go into a bathroom to feed their child. According to Pop Sugar, a pregnant mother of two decided that she wanted to do stick up for nursing moms all over the world while participating in a Facebook contest called “Make A Statement.” Tamar Shugert said that she took the opportunity to get an important message across.
The best photo response to someone telling a woman she should breastfeed in the bathroom: http://t.co/6qFVmxekm7 pic.twitter.com/XpB1UKBzJ9
— Clue (@clue) March 11, 2015
“While I’ve never personally been asked to ‘go to the bathroom’ to breastfeed — not that I would if I was asked — I have heard from friends of mine that this has happened to them. And seeing how I am pregnant, I guess this topic is on my mind,” explained Shugert.
The breastfeeding in the bathroom photo showed Shugert sitting on a toilet in what appears to be a public bathroom stall, “nursing her baby” with an uncomfortable look on her face. In the next stall was her husband who was noshing on noodles, which is something that you wouldn’t expect to see in a restroom. Shugert’s point? Being forced to eat in a bathroom isn’t cool.
“My baby eating is not a gross side-effect of having children. If you are not willing to eat your lunch in the bathroom, then don’t expect me to feed my kid there,” read the caption. Interestingly enough, Shugert caught some serious criticism for her decision to wear a nursing cover in the picture, and that she seemed ashamed of feeding the child. She countered with that decision being her own choice, not a response to some standard set by the general public.
“People took offense to the fact that I was wearing a nursing cover. I don’t ever want to be inconvenienced by being asked to leave a place to go nurse, but I don’t want to inconvenience others by showing them a body part that’s usually covered. Some of the commenters were saying that breasts shouldn’t be sexual. But I believe that breasts have a dual purpose, and that they are sexual. In my culture — Orthodox Judaism — sexuality is used as a powerful force within marriages and not something to be shown to everybody.”
According to the Huffington Post, Shugert hopes that people can get over her choice to cover up, and to see what the photo really stands for.
The breastfeeding in bathroom photo wasn’t the first of its kind to go viral, either. Often when celebrities take a stand on breastfeeding, and the beauty of nourishing a child naturally, those pics go viral, too. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, actress Olivia Wilde’s breastfeeding photo for Glamour Magazine went viral back in August. Celeb mom Alyssa Milano has also shared intimate breastfeeding photos, all of which have made headlines.
[Photo courtesy of Rick Kimpel via Wikimedia Commons]
