A mum to a 10-month-old has revealed some of the disconcerting and objectifying comments she’s faced from strangers about breastfeeding her baby.
In a post entitled “No these are my titties!” the mum, who lives in Canada, shared how strangers had commented on her breastfeeding her child, suggesting when she stops her husband can have his boobs back.
Oh yes, you heard that correctly.
Some of the comments she’s heard include “dad’s about to get those boobs back” and “I bet your husband’s excited about you weaning soon”.
Because apparently women’s bodies don’t belong to us.
It’s probably a good time to remind people that boobs don’t exist for the pleasure of men. Nor do men own them.
Comments about women’s breasts belonging to men, even when uttered in a jokey way, all go to reinforce the patriarchal belief that the female body exists for a man’s sexual pleasure.
And spoiler: it doesn’t.
“Everyone can actually fuck off, after breastfeeding no one is touching my boobs for a year-and-a-half or ever again if I feel like it,” wrote the mum in her Reddit rant.
“Just chop them off, chop ’em right off my body, I don’t care.”
The parent admitted she’d struggled with breastfeeding from the get-go but powered through it, so hearing such comments “just really pisses me off”.
“Most days I don’t ever wanna be touched again thank you very much,” she added.
The worst part is, she’s not alone in hearing such comments – while lots of parents were flabbergasted and suggested they’d never been on the receiving end of such drivel, another mum revealed: “Now that my baby is 16 months, I have gotten ‘is his dad getting tired of sharing?’”.
Another user shared their cousin was opting out of breastfeeding “so her husband doesn’t lose access to her body”. They added: “You’re all responsible for cleaning up your own vomit. I had to take care of mine.”
Others were pretty disturbed by the finding. “How inappropriate, who are these people, tell me so I can avoid them,” said one Reddit user in the comments. “Like seriously it’s not even remotely funny, it’s gross.”
“Eeek who says that?!” added another user. “That’s so inappropriate and awful.”
Thankfully lots of people were on hand to come up with zingy one-liners for next time it happens, which ranged from calling them out for their weirdness, “What a strange thing to say out loud,” to turning up the awkward stakes full-throttle, “No, dad’s very sad. He loves my milk!”