When you hear the phrase "breastfeeding mom," what words come to mind first? Awesome? Natural, maybe? Unfortunately, that's not the term a nursing mom faced at a coffee shop recently. The only thing some nasty folks could come up with?
A certain word usually reserved for a promiscuous woman. Hint ... it rhymes with mutt, gut, and putt putt. Say what?!
The story comes out of England, where 27-year-old stay-at-home mom Rhea Holley was at a coffee shop with a friend when her 11-month-old son woke up and wanted a snack. Mom had forgotten her cover, but the shop has a reputation for being "breastfeeding-friendly," and baby was hungry, so she decided to nurse him.
That's when a couple in the cafe -- who Holley has told several media outlets appeared to be in their 60s -- started grumbling about how "disgusting" she was and dropped the "slut" word.
Because caring for one's child is now "slutty"?
What kind of world are we living in? It's bad enough that women are slut-shamed for how they dress or how men treat them, but now we're actually slut-shaming women for feeding their kids?
Repeat after me, folks: breastfeeding is not sexual.
Nor is having a child sucking on your breast sexy.
In fact, if you look at a woman's chest, see a child having lunch, and get turned on, that says a whole lot more about you -- and your issues -- than it does mom or child. She's innocently feeding her baby. You're a pervert.
You're putting your feelings about her breasts on her rather than stepping back and evaluating what is actually going on.
When you think about it, that's the biggest problem with folks who shame breastfeeding mothers. They are uncomfortable, and instead of looking inwardly and asking themselves why it is that a nursing mom makes them feel that way, they project their "ick factor" onto the mother.
Have you ever been shamed for breastfeeding? What is the worst thing you've been called?
Image via © Barbara Peacock/CORBIS