Earlier this week, Jaime King posted an older photo of herself breastfeeding her now 8-month-old son, James, on Instagram. It was totally tasteful (though honestly, I don’t think “mother breastfeeding her child” can ever be distasteful… unless, say, the child is 30 or something) but people got their knickers in a twist over it, and Jaime is not having it.
From People:
“The responses from mothers were so grateful because there have been people out in the media being very judgmental, saying women have to breastfeed, or have to do this or have to do that,” she says. “I think that it’s really unfair for anybody in the spotlight — any sort of celebrity who has a very privileged life — to go out there and tell mothers what to do when they don’t understand their socioeconomic circumstances, when they don’t understand their health circumstances, when they don’t understand what their life is about.”
She continues, “I feel a responsibility as somebody who’s in the spotlight and as a public figure to let these women know they are not alone. I grew up in Omaha, my mother did both, and I am perfectly healthy and happy and fine.”
In the now famous photo of King nursing her baby, the two are cuddled up on a bed, but the actress insists breastfeeding is not just for behind closed doors.
“I think that it’s ridiculous that it’s okay to walk around with pasties or no clothes on, and that’s fashionable and cool, but it’s not okay to feed your child?” she muses. “Rihanna looked so epically stunning at the CFDAs the other night when I was there, and she was completely nude. And she looked beautiful. So why is there a problem for a woman to be nude nourishing her child?”
She adds, “We all eat in public. I don’t see why it should be frowned upon. Nothing about the way a mother feeds her baby should be frowned upon.”
Word. Seriously couldn’t agree more with everything she’s said. Why is it so great to see a woman’s breasts if they’re naked in a magazine or on a red carpet, but when they’re being used to feed a baby, it’s some disgusting thing that needs to be stopped? Oh, is that because there’s no way you can sexualize a mother feeding her child the way you can when she’s out there with pasties on or cleavage popping out of a tight dress?
Frankly, I don’t see what the big deal is. If I noticed a woman breastfeeding in public, I would probably just… you know, move on with my life. You don’t stare, you don’t complain, you don’t create a scandal. Jesus, I think some people forget it’s 2014 sometimes.
Oh, and here’s the photo in question, just for reference:
