A mother who was stomped for her public breastfeeding on a MRT train has responded to the posting on her and voiced her opinion on public breastfeeding.
A photo of the mother, Ms Cheryl Lee was featured in a story on Stomp, which said that the picture has been circulating on WhatsApp and on local forums.
The picture shows the mother was leaning to her husband while breastfeeding her baby, exposing her left breast as one side of her top pulled down. A toddler was also seen sitting next to the father.
In the post, Stomp wrote, “Some netizens felt that the image was provocative and said that even if her child was hungry, the mother should have at least made an attempt to cover up more.
Others, however, said that she did nothing wrong as breastfeeding is a mother’s right”
In the actual post itself, many commenters supported her said that they agree children should come first and she should just ignore the negativities people sent to her.
Many of them also blame the person who took the picture, saying that the act was very disrespectful.
One commenter, Sarah wrote, “instead of sneakily taking a photo of the family and “shaming” them, why didn’t you have the balls to go up to them and tell the mother to stop her “deplorable” act since you find it offensive? If it’s offensive behavior, how will spreading it online help stop this “offensive behavior?””
However, some of them stated that should be considerate to others by doing it out of public view like tail end of cabins facing away, not in complete disregard of others.
The mother, Ms Cheryl Lee, in her posting on her Facebook account and wrote that she has been informed that a picture of her breastfeeding is being shared.
“I am ok with it. Thanks for the concern to all those who have pmed me,” she said.
Ms Cheryl then noted that personally, she is not too bothered about it since she does not think it is wrong to breastfeed in public.
“I have a nursing cover, but my girl will cry and struggle when I use it. Those who suggest using a cover should try eating or drinking under a cover and see if you like it or not,” Ms Cheryl wrote, adding that she puts her baby first so as long as she is comfortable and feeding well, the mother does not really care what others think.
“It isn’t that hard to just look away if you don’t like to see a baby drinking milk,” she stated.
Ms Cheryl then said that she just wants to dress up and be a normal woman while still being able to take care of her kids and their needs.
“If people are ok with women who show cleavage, I don’t know why they would not be ok with me breastfeeding. Unless these group of people think my breast is for sex and not for feeding my baby,” she wrote.
Anyway, she stressed that it is just a breast. Perhaps to emphasize her point, she uploaded a photo of her breastfeeding.
“We all have it. Be it female or male. It’s meant to be used to feed a baby. I don’t see anything wrong with using it to feed a baby and ensuring my baby is comfortable. What’s so sexual/wrong about it? Hahas! Maybe girls should stop eating bananas/popsicle in public as some might find it sexual too,” she ended.
Her comments have been share for more than 550 times by the time the post is being written and more than 190 people commented on the matter.
Here are what some of them have written:
- Nat Ctf wrote, “Well said! Women in a bikini are ok but not women breastfeeding a child? The person should cover their face if they find if obscene/offensive! Shame on the person who took the photo! Insensitive and making it viral. Doesn’t know that’s privacy! Nosy arsehole!
- Larry Tan wrote, ” It just seems to me that the more modern our society is supposed to be, the more people love to nitpick and criticise others just to feel good about themselves. In the old kampong days and even till today in certain countries where they have kampongs, women breastfeed their babies openly and nobody says anything negative because it is the most natural way to feed a baby. The idiot who took the photo and posted it online should be arrested by the police and charged in court for invasion of privacy because he or she had not seeked permission from you or your family to take that photo. A distinction has to be made of what is considered public or personal photos we can or cannot snap of others.”
- Raymond Sim wrote, “I might not know you. But saw someone posted it. This person who posted it definitely is not a mum. I may be a guy but definitely know being a mom is not easy especially when your baby is hungry in public. Just ignore such ignorance people.”
- Kelvin Low Kok Hoe wrote, “Agreed with you too. Also because of other people, some mum choose to breastfeed their kids inside a toilet. Imagine asking yourself to dine inside the toilet. This shouldn’t be the case at all.”
- Xiuwen Kwan wrote, “Thank you for normalizing breastfeeding. I hope more mums will be like you and do their part of breastfeeding in public, cover or no cover, to help make sure our children will grow up in a world where they don’t have to explain to others about how they feed their children — From another breastfeeding mummy whose baby hates covers.”