HeHe Stewart
Earlier this week, Carly Clark, a mother, posted a very violent and aggressive attack on breastfeeding mothers everywhere. In her post, she threatens to punch breastfeeding mothers and their babies if she sees anymore.
“I’m not sorry – the next female that tries to whip her boob out to breastfeed in front of my kids will get a black eye, move that baby [because] I’ll punch it too #zerocare #why #inpublicletsjustshowkidsboobs #notmine.”
As soon as I read it, my heart sank... yours did, too, didn’t it? It’s no wonder it’s going viral. Her reaction tells me that we have a bunch of adults who have zero emotional intelligence. It lets me know that as a society we struggle to understand that everyone gets to make their own choices and you don’t get a say in that. I encourage this mom to look deep inside herself, identify why she is feeling unworthy and unhappy with herself, and then deal with her own problems. She needs to work through those sticky emotions that came up.
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One upset woman responded, “What in the actual hell??! How do people – especially a woman – still have this kind of mentality???! How ridiculous!! We have been feeding our babies the way our bodies intended since the dawn of time.”
Here is where my heart jumped in excitement because people are standing up to an clear exhibit of an unsafe mentality, but then I immediately took a big breath of “okay, we’ve got a lot of work to do.” I love to see people standing up for what they believe in, but we’ve gone so far from the idea of love and understanding that it’s painful. We have to start with love and trying to understand when we approach others.
Petsense, Clark’s now-former employer, fired her shortly after the event, explaining, “We absolutely would never condone violence such as was recently posted… This individual is no longer employed by Petsense. We sincerely apologize to all of those who have been affected by this situation.”
Here’s where my heart sings with joy! Her termination gives me hope. It lets me know that as a society we are beginning to stand up for women’s rights and the protection of moms. I encourage us as a human race to stop and think about how your actions will be perceived by the very person who grew and birthed you. A mom is a mom and we have to do better by our moms.
The next time you see someone making a choice that is different than your own, you should pause and appreciate the beauty in the fact that everyone gets to make their own choices in life. You should make a genuine attempt to be compassionate even though it is different. You need to recognize that you are only in charge of your body and your choices and that this other person is also free to make choices about theirs. You can rest assured that someone breastfeeding their child is in no way a reflection of you as a parent and does not impact you either way.
Finally, simply stay in your own MOTHER LOVING lane.
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