It is incredibly angering that women still face public shame for the simple of act of breastfeeding their child. Why in Western culture is objectification so widely accepted and embraced but nourishment shamed?
British poet and spoken word artist, Hollie McNish, vocalizes the daily frustrations and struggles mothers feel when breastfeeding in public. In the poignant video Embarrassed, she pairs up with filmmaker Jake Dypka and together they address how tremendously shameful and limiting it is to breastfeed in public toilets.
In McNish’s slam poetry style video, she expressed why she initially hid in toilets. “They said: There might be a man or small expecting child, seeing this small piece of flesh, they weren’t quite expecting.” Outraged by having to sneak around, she voices her regret. “I spent the first few months of her beautiful life feeling nervous and awkward, and wanting everything right.”
Flat-out tired of feeling this way, McNish stood up against public shame. “For god sake, Jesus drank it- so did Siddhartha, Mohammed, and Shiva- and I’m sure they weren’t doing it sniffing on shit as their mother sat embarrassed on cold toilet lids- in a country covered in tits. No more will I sit on toilets lids and matter how I embarrassed I feel.” The chilling video touches on justified outrage and provides hope to breastfeeding moms and supporters all over the world.
Check it out below:
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