A few days back, some feminists and women-centric forums had a reason to rejoice. The same reason also made some of them very upset. For the benefit of one and all, let me debrief about the “reason”. A certain model, Mara Martin decided to walk the ramp of the Sports Illustrated fashion show in Miami with her five-month-old daughter clasped to her breast. As the clueless infant gleefully had her “dinner”, the model soared into the limelight immediately for the bold(?) step. She was being touted as the flag bearer of the “breastfeeding movement” and garnered praise from all over the world. The criticism also came in varying intensities, obviously. For me, it set me into thinking mode. And my feminist mind came up with various thoughts on this.
This wasn’t the first time when a woman was breastfeeding at work. While women have been doing that for quite some time, it has attracted more attention lately as women are seen breastfeeding in classrooms, exams, parliaments and various other workplaces. And there have been some positive changes in workplaces, and more importantly, mindsets toward breastfeeding. As workplaces become more women-friendly, the need to accommodate breastfeeding mothers is more critical than ever before. However, projecting it as a power statement for womanhood or motherhood is nothing but short-sightedness.
Breastfeeding is natural and has many advantages associated with it, not only for the child but also for the mother. And while I support and encourage breastfeeding one hundred percent, I believe the need to do it in front of the audience was probably a desperate attempt at fame. And to justify it by calling it a natural motherly duty that can be performed anywhere doesn’t help the cause. Rather, an attempt to prioritize the duties would have had a better impact and set a superior example. As a career-oriented woman, I completely understand the difficult choices that are to be made while bringing up a child, I also understand the complications of resorting to short-term tactics to get things done.
Breastfeeding is an important part of mothers’ lives and it deserves respect. Incidents like these, however, portray it as something that can be used to manipulate our ways through difficult situations. And when we demand equality in all walks of life, it seems unfair to use breastfeeding as an agenda and get ahead. I believe we need greater acceptance of the cause but we need better examples than this one. Realigned policies, better infrastructure, and open mindsets will actually help the cause, not shortcuts to short-lived fame.
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