Conner Kendall didn’t set out to be a breastfeeding advocate. But circumstances turned her into a fervent one.
The mom was breastfeeding her baby in a T.G.I. Friday’s in Terre Haute, Indiana, when, unbeknownst to her, a stranger snapped her picture. He then posted it on Facebook and Instagram, asking others to weigh in on whether or not nursing in public is appropriate.
(Yes, we’re just as sick of breastfeeding being deemed controversial as you are.)
“I went [sic] to know if this is appropriate or inappropriate as I’m trying to eat my Fridays, there are little kids around,” the man captioned the photo. “I understand feeding in public but could you at least cover your boob up?”
Kendall soon became aware of the photo.
“It is not the fact that the picture was taken, or even that it was put on social media that bothers me,” she clarifies. “If he wanted a picture he should have just asked, I would have gladly smiled. It is the fact that it was done so in a way that aimed at shaming my child and I, as well as every other nursing mother, for taking care of my baby.”
She had plenty to say to her critic. You can read the lengthy Facebook post here, which includes the letter she sent him.
“I just wanted to let you know that I am the mother who was breastfeeding my son at TGI Fridays today,” she begins. “I am also the woman that you felt the need to take a picture of while I was doing so. Then proceed to post said picture on social media in a shameful manner. As I was admiring how adorable your daughter was, you were posting pictures of me on Facebook and Instagram.”
What follows is a defense of breastfeeding in public, although according to Kendall, “I in no way, shape, or form owe you any explanation [but] I would like to clarify a few things.”
She explains her son can’t nurse under a cover, a bottle makes him fussy and she can legally nurse anywhere.
“You’ve inspired me into a call of action. Rest assured, there will be action,” she writes. “Not only by me, the one you violated, but others like me who feel you violated them and their rights. Those that you are degrading by shaming the act of feeding their child.”
source:www.blog.thebump.com
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