Last week, Kelly Stanley was breast-feeding her 9-month-old baby during dinner when someone else at her table decided to grab a cloth napkin and try to cover her up with it because he didn't approve of her breast-feeding in public.
Being shamed for breast-feeding is bad enough when it comes from a stranger (which it often does), but in Stanley's case, it was someone from her own family. So Stanley took to Instagram to break down the "humiliating" gesture — and to speak up against the stigma that surrounds breast-feeding in public.
Stanley told Scary Mommy that the people shaming her at the dinner table were her own parents, particularly her father, who tossed the napkin over her breast.
Stanley also wrote that she "went off on him" and is glad she did, because "no woman should ever feel like she is being inappropriate or immodest by feeding her baby, anywhere, ever," she wrote. "Breastfeeding is NOT indecent exposure. It's not inviting men to gawk at my breasts."
"Breastfeeding is a normal and natural thing, and if someone has a problem with me feeding my child whenever and wherever, that is THEIR problem," she wrote. "It should NEVER be the breastfeeding mom's problem."
Since Stanley shared her story on Instagram, it has resonated with her followers, going viral and earning over 6,000 Likes at the time of writing.
"Well done on sticking up for yourself," another Instagram user commented. "I wish any form of breastfeeding was a non-issue."
Stanley also told Scary Mommy that, while her father hasn't changed his stance on breast-feeding in public, he says he understands her position and accepts it. While we may have a ways to go towards cultural acceptance for public breast-feeding, it's good to know that there are moms like Stanley who are willing to fight the stigma — even if they shouldn't have to.