To most people, this image would represent a woman breastfeeding. Although you are not able to see and confirm 100% that this woman is breastfeeding, a reasonable person would probably suggest that that is what is happening here. In reality, this image is one of a strong female, feeding her baby in public
despite strong opposition to public breastfeeding. To be clear about any bias I may have, I think that women should be able to breastfeed in public to whatever extent they find most comfortable. If it’s easier for a woman to nearly completely expose herself in order to efficiently feed her baby, well, okay then. Who am I to stop someone from efficiently feeding their baby. With my opinion in mind, the rest of this post may be a bit biased because to be quite honest I don’t really mind when, where, or how people decide to breastfeed which is the complete opposite opinion of some others. Getting back to the image itself, it’s a simple picture that shows the recent controversy of again, women breastfeeding in public, specifically without a nursing cover, scarf, wrap, etc. First off, this picture is attempting to show people the less “radical” side of public breastfeeding and also attempts to show people that public nursing should not be something women should be criticized about. With that goal, I think this picture is absolutely successful. When introducing people to a new idea that they don’t like, it’s typically more efficient to show them the mild side of that change or idea. In the photo, the woman is clearly breastfeeding, as you can see a bit of her stomach, but her actual breast is completely covered and she has multiple layers of clothes on. This eases people into the idea of accepting public breastfeeding more effectively than it would showing them a picture of someone nearly topless in public, breastfeeding. The picture also specifically portrays that the
woman is outside sitting down somewhere, leading the audience to the conjecture that she might be in a public park which contributes to backing up the argument of breastfeeding in public. Lastly, the photo shows what appears to be a relatively new baby. By showing a new baby, this appeals to both men and women parents because it forces them to think about when their children were that young and the special connection they made with that baby when it was born. This softens any disdain viewers may have about public nursing and can even open the mind to thinking about this new idea. Compared to other photos of public breastfeeding on the internet, this image is surely mild-mannered but still gets the point across. To learn more about the legal side of this controversy, click here.