When a photo of a model breastfeeding her baby appears on the front cover of a fashion magazine, it not only grabs global attention but it also sparks widespread controversy.

If the same model had posed without her baby in a low-cut dress exposing her cleavage, there would be no headline, no viral sharing of that image and no debates.

Breastfeeding in public is a big deal because of the sexualisation of breasts.

As a result, countless breastfeeding mothers around the world are forced, on a daily basis, to deal with the anxiety and challenges of nurturing and nourishing their babies outside of the safety and privacy of their own homes.

Why and how did this happen?

What has caused the sexualisation of breasts?

Here are some insights into what’s behind the sexualisation of breasts and ideas about how we can normalize breastfeeding:

Sex sells

A lot of what happens in the world is based on what men want; therefore, women’s bodies are used not only to sell products but are also sold and ‘advertised for sale’. Breasts are big business because they attract and sell.

Whether it’s wearing uncomfortable bras, having surgery or buying creams, your breasts have to look a certain way, depending on what’s fashionable at the time. We see female breasts everywhere – on television, at the movies, in magazines and on billboards. They have become a sexualised commodity and profit hungry companies will use them for all they are worth.

Look at this fantastic performed poem by Hollie McNish The battle to breast feed | Embarrassed.

Sexualization Of Breasts — Cartoon by David Horsey

Sexualisation of breastfeeding

The breast has long been, and is still, highly sexualised. Its main, normal and first intended purpose, however, is seen as dirty in the eyes of an over sexualised society. Not so long ago, in western countries, a woman with size DD breasts would have considered her breasts uncomfortable or even a nuisance. Now, many women will actually go through surgery to have breast implants so big that they actually make their lives more physically uncomfortable.

Breast have ‘evolved’ from just hanging there for offspring to latch on to, as necessary, to becoming a burden on the path to a woman’s happiness.

The problem with porn

The addictive and harmful nature of porn is, most likely, another reason why women’s breasts have become sexualised. Addicts tend to see others as sexual objects. Unfortunately, the number of cases of addiction is exploding, due to readily accessible technology. How do we protect our children from all this?

See BellyBelly’s article Porn: the talk you MUST have with your children.

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Why women have breasts

What is the true purpose of breasts? The biological importance of women’s breasts is to feed human babies. There’s absolutely nothing sexual about breastfeeding a child.

When a mother breastfeeds her child, it’s not to flaunt her breasts and it’s not because she’s trying to turn the male species on or because she’s an exhibitionist.

Read about this in Are Breastfeeding Mothers Exhibitionists?.

A mother breastfeeds simply to nourish and nurture her baby. Nothing more, nothing less.

Women’s breasts and desire

There are two different theories on why men are attracted to women’s breasts.

One has to do with establishing a close bond between the couple.
The other explanation as to why men are sexually attracted to breasts is because they’re a clear sign of a woman’s sexual maturity.

Breastfeeding indiscreetly doesn’t exist

Some are of the opinion that breastfeeding in public has to be done ‘discreetly’, because they seem to confuse breastfeeding with scandalous indiscretion.

What exactly does ‘discreet’ mean? Should a mother cover her whole chest, her arms and her baby with a blanket? It’s impossible to fight against a child’s flailing little arms. They want to see what’s around them, just as you would.

Should a breastfeeding mother leave a public place to go to her car or to a public toilet to breastfeed? It’s commonplace in our society for women to wear skimpy clothing and low-cut tops and for us to see exposed and semi-exposed breasts on beaches, in movies and in advertising. But it seems strange, therefore, that breastfeeding in public could ever be perceived as being scandalous or ‘indiscreet’.

Mothers breastfeeding freely are doing exactly what they should; if public breastfeeding offends some people, they are perpetuating – the sexual objectification of a woman’s body.

When we talk about having to breastfeed discreetly, what messages are we sending to girls and young women? What about new mothers, whose instincts will clash with the social conditioning.

We’re telling them that feeding their babies is something that has to be shut away or at least covered up and that the natural act of breastfeeding is something others shouldn’t see.

In some parts of the world, it’s not uncommon to see a fully veiled mother baring her breast to breastfeed her baby in public with no one, except perhaps a foreigner, taking any notice.

Breastfeeding mothers have varying levels of comfort about what they expose when breastfeeding in public. Some are okay with uncovering, while others prefer to use a cover of some description. It’s up to the woman breastfeeding – as to what she prefers to do.

It’s really a simple matter. An individual who takes offence at seeing a breastfeeding baby should never have priority over a mother feeding her baby the way nature intended.

There is no such thing as indiscreet breastfeeding.

Appropriate role modelling is important

Children need good role models around them as they grow up. Any girl or young woman should feel comfortable and love her body. For this to happen – particularly in many western countries – people, especially young girls, need to be able to see women breastfeeding, in public.

They are the mothers of the future. We want them to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin. We want them to feel proud of their bodies and what their bodies can do. For this to happen, it’s necessary to remove the sexual aspect of female breasts feeding a baby.

Breastfeeding and norms

Breastfeeding is the biologically normal way to feed babies. Biologically normal, however, doesn’t always mean culturally normal. Our society still has a long way to go for breastfeeding to be seen as the cultural norm and we all have a role to play in this. We should normalise breastfeeding with no shame and normalise the exposure of the female breast at times when the little one is mobile and breastfeeding.