Leave Breastfeeding Women Alone
It always blows my mind when I see countless eyes staring at a woman breastfeeding her young infant in public. When breastfeeding women feel those eyes staring at her and her child, they cannot help but feel self-conscious. Especially when most of the eyes staring at them are men! However, the reality is that breastfeeding is totally normal, and honestly not something that anyone should be so “intrigued” about in the first place.
Keep in mind that breastfeeding is perfectly normal and commonplace. Anyone who knows anything about motherhood or even just childhood knows that young children rely on their mother’s milk for sustenance. It’s not like you would just forget that fact for no reason. No, the real reason that people end up staring at women breastfeeding is because there is the general connotation that the mother is exposing herself for all of the world to see.
But that just isn’t true at all. In case you didn’t realize it, women only need one breast to feed their children with, and that breast is basically all but exposed by the child’s mouth sucking on it. But that won’t stop people from staring, simply because the mere image can lend itself to perverted fantasies about a woman exposing her breast in public despite that not being the case whatsoever. In fact, many women have the courtesy to cover themselves with a towel or blanket to cover up just about all of it. But even then people (especially men) will just see a mother holding their child under a blanket inconspicuously and their mind will wander.
Look, it isn’t hard to tell when a woman is breastfeeding her child. Even if a woman does her best to stay in the background, as soon as anyone catches a glimpse of them, if for no other reason than a wandering eye, they will be able to tell that she is breastfeeding. But the key is to just stop staring once you recognize what is going on!
Women don’t mind being “caught” breastfeeding, as long as the person who catches them doesn’t make a big deal about it.
Just look away and you are golden. Because if you are staring non-stop, even if you think no one else is looking, the mere act of looking towards a seemingly inconspicuous woman will only draw further attention. Instead of someone potentially happening on just the mother, they can just as easily happen upon you staring, which will cause them to figure out what you are staring at and ultimately bring their eyes to the breastfeeding mother. And then another person’s wandering eyes will have that much more to draw them towards the breastfeeding mother. The cycle goes on and on until the entire room has at least realized that someone is breastfeeding amongst them, if not staring outright for long periods of time.
So instead of just a few people happening to catch a woman doing what is completely normal and necessary for their child, you end up with a room full of curious eyes that just makes the mother feel uncomfortable. Don’t let yourself be the one who causes that sort of unnecessary burden on a mother just minding her own business. Yes, a mother breastfeeding is not the most common sight in the world – but it isn’t a total surprise either. Breastfeeding is something that everyone knows about, and so the next time you catch a woman breastfeeding her child in public, just leave her alone! It may not feel like much, but it’ll make a world of difference for the mother if you do your part in this regard!