Mayim Bialik is a big proponent of breastfeeding–yes, even in public. The actress and neuroscientist has had to defend her parenting style–attachment parenting–way more than she believes is necessary over the past several years. She spoke during an interview with the Huffington Post on Monday, and once again defended breastfeeding.
“I received a tremendous amount of backlash,” the Big Bang Theory star said, referring to when she nursed her then 3-year-old son Fred on a New York City subway train. “What I like to point out is that was the best way for that subway ride to be pleasant for everyone. It was the end of a very long day.”
She says she was simply putting her son’s needs first.
“That was not a weak moment of parenting but a conscious decision of, ‘I have the best way to make this child happy and content right now,” she said.
Mayim Bialik credits the Jewish parenting site Kveller with affording her “a safe place for me to speak up to the thousands and thousands of women who parent this way who get people harassing them all the time, and people looking at us funny in every department store or wherever else we nurse.”
“When I was nursing, I didn’t feel the need to be immodest, but I also feel like that’s going to vary from woman to woman. I would try to be absolutely respectful and conscious of the community I was in. But I don’t believe you need to cover up a baby eating anymore than you need to cover a baby drinking a bottle,” she added.
Mayim is widely known for supporting mothers who nurse their babies. She recently tweeted a bit of that support.
Breastfeeding mamas, I love you. I hope you love me :)… http://t.co/KtcsSliTFr
— Mayim Bialik (@missmayim) February 25, 2014
Bialik fears that society has somehow sexualized a very non-sexual act that is perfectly normal between a mother and her child.
“Our culture has a very, very bizarre relationship with breasts. Breastfeeding is not a sexual act. It’s an intimate act, and that makes some people uncomfortable, but it’s completely normal to have all of the human hormones that are released when you breastfeed regulating your relationship with your child,” she said.
Kudos to Mayim Bialik for once again defending public breastfeeding. It seems absolutely absurd for a woman to have to hide away in a restroom or a dark corner in order to feed her baby in the most natural way possible.
Image via YouTube