Celebrities breastfeeding to fight back against the shamers

published 6 March 2017

Preach!

If you didn't already know, it's never wise to shame celebrities breastfeeding.

When someone asked Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel to 'cover up' while she was breastfeeding, she responded by posting the below photo of her and her son Anacã (whose father is Brazilian model Hermann Nicoli).

Hitting back at people who express discomfort with women breastfeeding their children in public, Candice said: 'I have been made to feel the need to cover up and [be] somewhat shy to feed my baby in public places but strangely [these people] feel nothing for the topless editorials I've done in the name of art..? The world has been desensitized to the sexualization of the breast and to violence on tv... why should it be different when it comes to breastfeeding? Breastfeeding is not sexual, it's natural.'

A photo posted by on

And this issue affects women all around the world, who have experienced shaking heads, comments suggesting they should 'go elsewhere' and, at worse, abuse that inappropriately sexualises breastfeeding, such as this account of a woman breastfeeding in public who was met with lewd exclaims like 'go on lad' and 'save some for me.'

It's hard to believe that this is still an issue in 2016. Breastfeeding even came up during this year's awards season when Tom Hardy's wife, Charlotte Riley, had to resort to using a breast pump at the Oscars, every hour, in the regular bathrooms at the Dolby Theatre because there were no other facilities available.

And, when a 21-year-old mother posted a photo of herself breastfeeding at a wedding with the hashtags #normalizebreastfeeding and #breastfeedwithoutfear, it went suitably viral and was met with support.

So, it's no surprise that other famous mums are making powerful statements, too. Here are some famous celebrities breastfeeding who are spreading the word to their social media followers...