Big fuss over normal act
This is an editorial that shouldn’t have to be written about an event that shouldn’t have made headlines in countries around the world. But it did. And we do. The event? Australian Greens party Senator Larissa Waters — get ready for it — breastfed her baby on the floor of the country’s Senate.
The question is why in 2017 a woman breastfeeding her infant in public — something Waters rightly described as “natural” — isn’t just par for the course. But judging from the reaction in newspaper comment sections and on Twitter, it’s not, by a disturbing long shot.
How bad was it? One critic compared breastfeeding at work to peeing in public. “Sorry #larissawaters but urinating is perfectly natural also, but we still go somewhere private to do it.”
Happily, there was some praise amongst the derision. Feminist Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, declared online: “Go Larissa Waters — leading by example!”
Even that praise, though, wasn’t without irony. In 2012, Facebook repeatedly deleted Vancouver mother Emma Kwasnica’s breastfeeding images and revoked her account access on four occasions.
And if moms who breastfeed at work, as Waters did, hoped her example would encourage their bosses to be supportive, their hopes might have been dashed by a column her act sparked in the U.K. publication Management Today. “The trick is to breastfeed your baby before the meeting,” it advised.
Sadly, it’s not just at work that breastfeeding moms are disrespected. Media reports indicate it happens at clubs, restaurants, malls and even community centres.
Sadly, breastfeeding women continue to learn they will be shamed, degraded and shunted off to basements and bathrooms to feed their babies if they dare stray from home. This despite a ruling from the Ontario Human Rights Commission that says: “No one should prevent you from breastfeeding your child simply because you are in a public area. They should not ask you to cover up, disturb you or ask you to move to another area that is more discreet.”
Congratulations to Waters, then, for de-stigmatizing an act that shouldn’t raise an eyebrow. We’re only sorry that in 2017 we have to mention it, never mind defend it.
Toronto Star