We hate it when mums are made to feel like second-class citizens for breastfeeding their babies in public, so we were very excited to hear that one such mother has written a powerful, impassioned and thoughtful argument, defending her right to feed her child. And she's only gone and done it in rap form.
Hollie McNish, a published U.K. poet and spoken word artist, posted a video entitled "Embarrassed" on YouTube on July 4, that has slowly become a viral sensation.
The talented mum has explained exactly why she wrote the rap, saying: "I wrote this poem in a public toilet after my 6 month old baby fell asleep."
"I was in town on my own a lot with her and the first time I fed her someone commented that I should stay home. Baby's need breastfed every 2-3 hours often. It's impossible to run home. It's a stupid argument anyway. But I was embarrassed and for 6 months took her into toilets when I was alone without the support of boyfriend, friends, mum etc."
So, to do something about it, Holly decided to post a spoken word video up on YouTube - and, judging by the 1,114,202 hits it's got so far, her message is reaching a LOT of people.
We love that opening stanza:
*At first *
*I thought it was ok *
*I could understand their reasons *
*They said 'There might be young children or a nervous man seeing' *
*this small piece of flesh that they weren't quite expecting *
*so I whispered and tiptoed with nervous discretion. *
*But after six months of her life sat sitting on lids *
_Sipping on her milk nostrils sniffing up p_ss *
*Trying not to bang her head on toilet roll dispensers *
I wonder whether these public loo feeds offend her?
Not surprisingly, the video has received thousands of positive and emotional comments from supportive mums and dads around the world.
One YouTube user Gabriel Star said, "I am a breastfeeding mother of 2 and I felt embarrassed in the early stages the first time. Well, my son helped me get over it! He didn't like to have his head covered and would remove the cover up each time. So I finally said the hell with making him physically uncomfortable in order to make others emotionally comfortable."
Another user Caitlin Harper added: "So, so true. I could never bring myself to try feeding my son in public. And I failed him. I couldn't keep my supply up when I couldn't bring myself to feed him when we were out."
Ejoelleduval confessed, "I hate that breasts have become so sexualized that they have lost their original purpose in the public mind. It is acceptable to wear bikinis that cover less, but taboo to feed your child. Overall opinion is that you are less of a mother if you bottle feed, but they won't let you do it in public. Is this just another way to shame us back into roles that were relevant 50 years ago?"
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