Breastfeeding: A Site Of Objectification?

Written By: Misha

March 20, 2022

Highlights

Are public spaces accessible to breastfeeding mothers?
A lactating mother felt ‘uncomfortable’ breastfeeding her child in public.
Uncomfortable, embarrassed, vulnerable! But why is it a site of objectification?
It is rare to find nursing rooms in public spaces where a woman can breastfeed.

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A woman felt uncomfortable about doing nothing more than feeding her baby. Public places are immensely crowded, with people pushing each other, being stared at and harassed. This ordeal doesn’t have much comfort to offer. In addition, it is rare to find nursing rooms in public spaces where a woman can breastfeed her child without the stares of objectification. The scorn of society is not the sole reason for the barrier in breastfeeding in public spaces. Lack of hygiene, no facilities of nursing rooms are among the other reasons which make the environment far from encouraging to protect the right of a child to be breastfed irrespective of where they are. Instead of misogynistic attempts to shame the natural act of feeding babies let’s ensure to normalize the gaze with which the society views the act of breastfeeding and work on providing well maintained accessible for all spaces free from intrusion at workplaces, malls, metro stations, railway stations and other public spaces for women to nurse their child without the fear of objectification or public glare. Let’s ensure no lactating mother gets directed towards the toilets to feed their babies.

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“Next station is Rajiv Chowk. Change here for the blue line. Doors will open on the right. Please mind the gap.”

It was during one of my morning metro rides. As soon as the door of the metro closed, a woman came running from the general coach. She seemed in a hurry. But more than her swing of motion toward the moving train, what caught everyone’s attention was her little baby draped in her dupatta crying his throat out.

She came to the women’s coach and sat next to me. And started breastfeeding her child instantaneously. The crying voice ceased just seconds after. Well, she answered the unasked questions pointed to her with many women gazing at her. She said, “I felt uncomfortable there” and smiled.

Breastfeeding In Public Is Uncomfortable

She felt uncomfortable about doing nothing more than feeding her baby.

Uncomfortable, embarrassed, vulnerable! Breastfeeding in public is a barrier to breastfeeding in general. But why is it a site of objectification? How society perceives the act of breastfeeding is a question of concern.

The Infant and Young Child Feeding Guidelines 2016 (IYCFG, drafted by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (Indian Pediatrics 2016) states:

“Nursing in Public (NIP): Mothers should feel comfortable to nurse in public. All efforts should be taken to remove hurdles impeding breastfeeding in public places. Special areas/rooms shall be identified/ constructed or established in places like bus stands, railway stations, airports, etc.”

Public places are immensely crowded, with people pushing each other, being stared at, and harassed. This ordeal doesn’t have much comfort to offer. In addition, it is rare to find nursing rooms in public spaces where a woman can breastfeed her child without the stares of objectification.

From a woman being mocked by a fellow employee in Kolkata for breastfeeding her child in the office to a magazine receiving flak for featuring a model posing like she was breastfeeding – it is unfortunate and illogically unsettling how so many people still consider breastfeeding a stigma and view the process as mere sexualization, exclusive for gaze.

There are no laws in India that prohibit breastfeeding in public. However, the environment is not conducive to a breastfeeding mother either in a metro or at the workplace?

This raises concerns about the social conditioning and unavailability of proper infrastructure in public spaces, including malls, metro stations, railway stations, bus terminals, airports for breastfeeding mothers.

The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. The WHO also states within its guidelines:

Men Stare, So Do Women

The scorn of society is not the sole reason for the barrier in breastfeeding in public spaces. Lack of hygiene, no facilities of nursing rooms are among the other reasons which make the environment far from encouraging to protect the right of a child to be breastfed irrespective of where they are.

Michelle Branch, an American singer, recently took to her social media after getting flak by another mother for breastfeeding in public. Branch wrote, “I am in shock that this kind of judgment was coming from a fellow mom!”

I just got shamed by another mother (who was holding her own young infant!) for nursing my 6 week old baby on a bench at a playground while my toddler was playing 🤯 She said I wasn’t “being modest” I am in shock that this kind of judgement was coming from a fellow mom!
— Michelle Branch (@michellebranch) March 15, 2022

Well, it is ironic that you’ll find a smoking room around different public spaces, but rarely you would find a nursing room to breastfeed a child.

The concerning thing is the fact, in 2022, women aren’t able to enjoy the freedom to breastfeed in peace. The possibility of being stared at, photographed, and harassed grips the basic fact of life.

According to the survey conducted by Mompresso.com, a user-generated platform for Moms, 93% of lactating mothers feel uncomfortable in public because of a lack of breastfeeding facilities.

No Space For Breastfeeding In Public

Shaili (name changed), a resident of Delhi, says, “I felt extremely uncomfortable breastfeeding in public during the first few months. I was directed to the washroom. We wouldn’t want to eat in a freaking public toilet, so why do many think it’s okay to tell a mother to breastfeed their child in a stinking toilet where they themselves wouldn’t eat?”

Pallavee, an IT professional with a leading firm in Gurugram, says, “I have breastfed my child in public parks, toilets, malls, restaurants, and trains. I was nervous when I had to nurse in public, surrounded by glares. I will never understand why breastfeeding in public is shamed upon. There are no places where I can breastfeed peacefully. I gotta feed my baby.”

“I do not attract anyone’s gaze while I breastfeed my child,” said one respondent.

As of now, there is no law in the country which mandates public spaces to have lactation rooms. If metro stations had a nursing room, we, as a society, normalize breastfeeding and not stare when a woman breast-feeds. It could have enabled that lady on the train and many more like her to take care of her infant without panicking and rushing to avoid the stares of objectification.

We need society and laws to build a more empowering and accessible environment for lactating mothers and build necessary infrastructure which is clean and safe for a mother to breastfeed their child.

Let’s Support Nursing Mothers!

Larissa Waters, an Australian MP, made international headlines in 2017 when she breastfed her 14-week-old baby while addressing the nation’s parliament. Her gesture is a clear representation of how rarely there have been talks about breastfeeding in public.

Larissa Waters, Australian senator, breastfeeding her baby, while addressing the Parliament.
*_{Source: YouTube screengrab}*

Babies need to be fed. Let’s be more empathetic and make it better for them without making them feel unnerved. The feeling of humankind should incite compassion and not oppose or associate accusations of indecency with breastfeeding.

Instead of misogynistic attempts to shame the natural act of feeding babies, let’s ensure to normalize the gaze with which the society views the act of breastfeeding and work on providing well maintained accessible for all spaces, free from intrusion at workplaces, malls, metro stations, railway stations and other public spaces for women to nurse their children without the fear of public glare.

Let’s ensure no lactating mother gets directed towards the toilet to feed their babies. Let’s not objectify a mother’s choice – the next time!

Also Read: Placenta: The Life Supporting Organ

breastfeeding Breastfeeding in public Lactation Lactation days Momlife Normalise breastfeeding Objectification of breastfeeding

Misha

Chennai Schools’ #MeToo Movement Demands Better Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy

Written By: Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin

June 15, 2021 | 09:00 AM |

1,160

Highlights

Many students from across various schools in Chennai have come forward with allegations of sexual harassment at the hands of the staff.
As parents, we need to create a safe environment and non-judgmental spaces for our children at home where they feel free to discuss any small or big issues with us without any hesitation or fear.
Unless we openly discuss topics of sex and make our children feel comfortable in their bodies and help them set boundaries, we cannot expect others to be proactive.
The first step has to be taken as parents where we believe and trust our children’s experiences, question abusers and bring them to task and help the children to deal and heal from their traumas so that it does not affect them mentally and do damage to their self-esteem.

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In what can be called as a student’s #metoo movement, a number of Chennai schools came under the radar recently after students from a leading school complained of sexual harassment. Soon many students from across various schools in Chennai have come forward with allegations of sexual harassment at the hands of the staff.

What began as a call out on twitter for casteist statements made by standup comedians in their shows, gathered traction on the social media platform. This escalated quickly with attention turning to educational institutions that are known to be caste exclusive. One of them, Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB), a well known school in Chennai, was being mentioned for its casteist nature when the conversation suddenly took a turn with allegations of child sexual abuse and sexual harassment by a teacher came to light through an Instagram handle. These were made by both former and present students.

This resulted in the arrest of the accused teacher G Rajagopalan, under several sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by the Chennai police.

A revelation and outpour like this gave courage to many other students (old and current) to come out with their experiences of similar stories in their educational institutions. Students of Chettinad Vidyashram, opened up on Instagram about instances of sexual harassment and sexist behaviour, mainly involving three teachers. Student accounts of other physical violations like hitting, intimidation, and harassment within and outside the classroom also were being spoken about.

The alumni of Kendriya Vidyalaya, CLRI, also complained about a language teacher who had sexually abused and misbehaved with them.

Another horrifying incident of a school named Sushil Hari International Residential School, which was being run by a self-styled Godman Siva Shankar Baba also made news this week. The allegations range from molestation, sexual abuse, intoxicating minors with alcohol, showing pornography to minors and even rape. He had declared himself as saying he was “Lord Krishna” and the girl students were his Gopikas. The Baba, bunked the Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights (TNCPCR) hearing saying he had suffered a heart attack. The case has been transferred to Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID).

sexual harassment by Siva Shankar Baba — Siva Shankar Baba

The Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights (TNCPCR) has summoned representatives from various schools regarding all allegations and the investigations are ongoing. Six schools in the city including three private CBSE schools, one Central government school, one Anglo-Indian school and one international school, are currently under the radar.

How did it come so far?

How did these incidents go unreported you may ask? The most worrying fact is that many students had raised complaints about the staff on several incidents about the inappropriate behavior but their complaints were either ignored or invalidated.

They were told to be ‘overreacting’ and that they misunderstood and made to feel guilty instead. In some incidents the staff member was let off with a warning and continued to teach.

Why is it a matter of shame for schools?

The fact that the schools have not been proactive on the complaints of students brings to light the importance such incidents have on the priority list of the management and school authorities.

The fact that students’ well-being and safety was not the utmost priority and that they have been exposed to such brutality time and again over the decades shows how we as a society have failed to create safe spaces for our children at home or at school.

The fact that there is a lack of apathy towards the suffrage and the effect on long term mental health of the students reflects how we are willing to sabotage the students well being for the sake of reputation and better name of the school.

While we wish more power to the students for finding the courage to speak up even after years of these incidents, we also need now a better system in place in educational institutions and even the society at large where our children are protected and safe from such perpetrators, where they are able to differentiate and call out the wrong doers and a space free of judgment where they can heal.

What are the steps that need to be taken?

Educational institutions must have an inclusive harassment prevention policy. The solution to students #MeToo pandemic lies within the premises of educational institutions which can be achieved by addressing it from the root, says AWARE India an NGO, working on Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. Recently they came up with a 6-point strategy which should be mandated in the inclusive policy.

The proposal of “Inclusive Harassment Prevention Policy” demands:

STEP 1: Formulate an inclusive policy for children, teaching and non-teaching staff bringing together

STEP 2: Set up an independent, effective Internal Committee Board (ICB)

STEP 3: Appoint a CPP sensitized child counselor effective immediately and failure to do so must amount to punishable offence by law.

STEP 4: Monitoring & audit by child welfare officers or child protection agencies every quarterly

STEP 5: Existing staff or recruitment of any faculty member into an educational institution must be subjected to rigorous background investigation

STEP 6: Mandate child abuse prevention and gender sensitization sessions in all educational institutions.

These 6 points are the basic framework around which a comprehensive policy will be drafted after gathering extensive feedback and suggestions from all stakeholders. You can read the detailed mandate and sign the petition here.

The NGO further states that the issue can be solved by addressing 2 systemic problems, which are:

(a) Change MUST originate from redefining ‘School Culture’ where student safety is paramount. As directed by the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, every educational institution must sanction Child Protection Policy (CPP). Members of the organization should include the institute’s board, administrators, teachers, other school board employees, school volunteers, parents, state agencies, law enforcement, and Students.

(b) Institutions should look beyond Good touch-bad touch and inculcate a comprehensive understanding of child sexual abuse. Institutions as a workplace formulate new channels to identify and address patterns and behaviors often associated with adult misconduct. Therefore, necessitating the implementation of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at workplace (POSH) Act, 2013.

Having said that, as parents we need to create a safe environment and non-judgmental spaces for our children at home where they feel free to discuss any small or big issues with us without any hesitation or fear.

Unless we openly discuss topics of sex and make our children feel comfortable in their bodies and help them set boundaries, we cannot expect others to be proactive. The first step has to be taken as parents where we believe and trust our children’s experiences, question abusers and bring them to task and help the children to deal and heal from their traumas so that it does not affect them mentally and do damage to their self-esteem.

chennai schools mental health metoo PSBB sexual abuse sexual harassment student harassment trauma

Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin

Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin has done her masters in Journalism & Communication and has worked as a senior journalist, editor and columnist for leading publications like The Logical Indian, Deccan Chronicle, Worldwide Media Corporation, The Bridge and Provoke.
With Infano, she hopes to create more awareness about women’s health issues. Suffering with Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, she has also been advocating for its awareness through media.