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Breastfeeding moms get tired of saying it: We have the right to feed our babies anywhere, any time we choose -- any time our babies need it. Mothers shouldn't have to cover up, shouldn't have to apologize, and definitely shouldn't have to hide in the bathroom. But sometimes it helps to say the same thing a different way to really get your point across. That's what poet Hollie McNish decided to do one day after feeding her baby in the bathroom for the last time. She wrote a poem about breastfeeding in public called "Embarrassed."
Hollie says she wrote this poem one day after breastfeeding her baby in the bathroom. She was there because the first time she fed her baby in public, someone had told her she should just stay at home. So there she was, hiding as if feeding her baby were something to be ashamed about, when it occurred to her that she lives in a "country of low cut tops, cleavage, and skin." Here she was, trying to be modest while nursing her baby -- while she was surrounded by more "acceptable" images of women's breasts in advertising and entertainment, everywhere. The hypocrisy was too much for her.
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Meanwhile, women are spending money they can't really afford on formula, when breast milk is free.
So Hollie rails against this absurdity in a spoken word piece. She ends with a defiant tone: "So no more will I sit on these cold toilet lids / No matter how embarrassed I feel as she sips / Cos in this country of billboards covered in 'tits' / I think I should try to get used to this." Hearing and seeing her say that, while looking directly at you, her defiance is infectious. It's a rallying cry to breastfeeding mothers everywhere to stop letting people make you feel embarrassed. Here is one young woman who is reclaiming her place in public. Doesn't it make you want to join her?
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Have you ever felt like Hollie does?
Image via Hollie McNish/YouTube
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