Plus-Size Model Tess Holliday Supports Feminism By Breastfeeding Baby Son In Public

Tess Holliday was sure to make her point of breastfeeding publicly this past week as she attended the Los Angeles Women’s March.

The 31-year-old took her young son to the rally where she proceeded to breastfeed him and document it for all of her fans to see. According to Holliday’s Instagram post, she is seeking to normalize breastfeeding with her statement.

“Breastfeed anywhere. Thank you to my friend @jessicalouiseimagery for capturing this moment during today’s @womensmarchla #normalizebreastfeeding”

Of course, the model also directs fans to the site where they purchase earrings similar to the ones she’s wearing in the photo as she proves to be ever the entrepreneur. However, not to lose sight of the purpose of the post, Tess went back to edit the caption as commenters seem to have told the model to “cover up.”

“Edited to add: Those saying that I should “cover up.” You mean when I’m breastfeeding MY baby who was a) hungry & b) screaming because he was overly tired & the crowd overloaded his senses & it was the only way to comfort him?! I will feed my child anywhere I want. Also CA state law protects me to do so. Keep your uneducated opinions off my body.”

The fact Tess stated the crowd “overloaded” her 7-month-old son’s senses was not lost on the Instagram commenters as they then stated a protest was not the place to either take a baby, or try to breastfeed one.

“I think babies shouldn’t take part into protests… They need peace and quality time not that noise especially when being fed…”

However, Holliday’s fans stepped up to defend to her as they commented it’s just a photo of a mom feeding her hungry baby.

“Yes this! Absolutely it’s just a hungry baby feeding, go mamma!”

Others told Tess she’s doing a great job in raising awareness with her photo as she works to normalize breastfeeding for all mothers.

“you keep doing you @tessholliday! You’re making a much needed change in this world. Our bodies, our babies, our breasts – we will do with them what we want!”

But the post wasn’t complete, of course, without someone bringing the model’s weight to attention, which seems to happen no matter what message Tess is trying to send.

“I just hope she loses weight and gets healthy, for the sake of that baby.”

People reported on Holliday’s Women’s March attendance with baby in tow as the site states she was proud to bring her son Bowie to the rally. The article also states the breastfeeding wasn’t planned on Holliday’s part.

“Breastfeeding her 7-month-old son Bowie during the Women’s March wasn’t part of the plan, but Tess Holliday says she would absolutely do it again — regardless of the backlash on social media.”

And while Tess is receiving a bit of backlash for posting the photo to social media, the model admits nobody bothered her or gave her a second look while she was actually breastfeeding.

“I didn’t feel uncomfortable or weird — people didn’t even look at me. People were just oblivious to it because it’s a Women’s March.”

Tess discussed the backlash with People as she stated she wanted to share the photo because of how powerful it was.

“I didn’t mean to make a statement, but when I saw the photo I realized how powerful it was, especially with them cutting funding to so many programs that support women and mothers.”

And for the people bringing up the issue of taking a baby to a protest, Tess said she didn’t expect the turnout to be so large and never felt threatened or in danger.

“To be honest, I didn’t think there would be as many people as there were. And I really wanted to take Bowie because it was history, and I wanted him to be a part of it. He wasn’t in danger at any point. It was safe, it was peaceful, I never felt scared.”

It seems Holliday was greeted by a different crowd at the march as compared to the commenters on the Instagram post as she states the attendees loved the fact she brought her son. Apparently the women at the march were supportive and didn’t mind her breastfeeding in public, but Instagram users don’t want to use the permanent photo of the mother-son moment.

However, Holliday would do it all over again if given the chance.

“Everyone was so supportive, and when people saw Bowie their faces lit up. I would do it again and I would do the same thing again.”

[Featured Image by Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images]