Eye Roll
Military Moms Breastfeed in Uniform & the World Freaks Out
members of the Air National Guard at workAttention, my fellow Americans! May isn't even over yet, and we've got the second controversy over a photo of a mom (or in this case moms) nursing for the month. This time two military moms breastfeeding while wearing their Air National Guard uniforms were snapped by a photographer working on a breastfeeding awareness campaign, and the typical "eww, boobies" folks were joined in the chorus by military folks who are all a flutter.
It seems seeing Terran Echegoyen-McCabe and Christina Luna feeding their kids is a problem for military folks specifically because they wore their uniforms. They're calling them unprofessional. So I have a word for the people on both sides of this argument to consider: reality.
When is the last time you actually saw a baby tagging along for National Guard duty? Gotcha, huh.
Just on its own merits, the photo itself is kind of ... silly.
I don't mean to denigrate what these particular moms or the women behind Mom2Mom -- the group that set up the photo shoot for its breastfeeding awareness campaign -- were trying to do here. As far as I can tell, they had the best intentions. They just wanted to show lots of moms, different moms, doing what moms do. They feed their kids, and it's a beautiful thing. I commend their good intentions.
But here's the thing. The debate over breastfeeding in the military that this photo has dredged up is really moot. Many moms serve our country and breastfeed. But how often are they doing them at the exact same time?
Lactating military moms may pump while they're on the job to bring the milk back home, but if they're on duty, they do not bring their babies along with them. They're at work, and the military workspace is not one that is conducive to bringing your kids to work. In that sense, it's like many jobs in America. I was a reporter for a small town newspaper when my daughter was an infant. I couldn't bring her to municipal board meetings either.
A military mom may breastfeed her child while wearing her uniform before going to work. Or maybe she'll do it on her lunch break. Maybe she'll still be in uniform after work. But by and large, babies aren't spending time in the business part of a military base, making breastfeeding in uniform rather ... un-related to the military at all.
So let's revisit this photo. It's very sweet. But what does it really SAY about breastfeeding, motherhood, and the military?
Image via AN HONORABLE GERMAN/Flickr
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libby261
The whole controversy is just stupid. Women, by law, are allowed to pump at work. These military moms are AT WORK, IT IS THEIR JOB!! Besides it is just a PR campaign, just like those rediculous "Got Milk" photos. The BF moms in uniforms are simply trying to broker awareness that moms in the military CAN BF successfully.
navywife0204
I'm fairly certain there is nothing in the UCMJ about breastfeeding while in uniform. Let them be.
SierraLynn
The picture was, however unprofessional. As an Army vet, and a mother I would never dare to breastfeed while in uniform. While in uniform you are a professional and set a certian standard. One of those standards is not letting your lady bits hang out all over, even as a breast feeding mother.
I have no problem with breastfeeding whatsoever. But the picture was for nothing but attention to the issue and was actually not approved by the Air Force to publish.
Leslie_ABS
If you would feed your baby a bottle while in uniform, then you can breastfeed in uniform, end of story. it's not disrespectful, it's just a fact of life. But, they are doing a great job of raising awareness that breastfeeding and being a professional in the military are not incompatible, so kudos to them. And, many jobs require uniforms, but since we spend so much of our lives working (and in uniform, if you must wear them), then, by necessity, the need to breastfeed in uniform happens.
Michael Ray Overby
Now Hear This: Military Mommies with Hungry Babies, Feed Them... This should Arouse No Controversy. None.
Floridamom96
Michael Ray Overby
Feeding a Baby is a source of Pride more than Worthy of the Uniform of a United States Servicemember.
Cheyenne Bythewood
I think it is a beautiful photo, it really warms my heart to see our ladies BFing even though they are so very busy!
But, as an AF wife, I do know BFing is not allowed in uniform. So I understand why some are up in arms about the photo for a UCJM violation.
While I questioned this to my husband, stating that it does not say anything about BFing in the UCMJ, he told me that they have a certain way they MUST wear the uniform and that unbuttoning your coat and hiking up your shirt would be seen as indecent exposure and causing a violation. He then informed me that there is no exception for BFing in the code, there fore it isn't allowed.
(We are both FOR BFing, it's a beautiful thing.)
Katie Hesney Johnson
I love that active duty women breastfeed, it takes so much extra time and effort to do so.
And Floridamom is right on the money, political wise. I believe it's against the UCMJ to use your uniform to make POLITICAL statements (protests, rallies, etc.), but I don't think breastfeeding is really a political issue, it's just feeding your child.
jrphelps
I am tired of all the bull headed ignorant people out there comparing breastfeeding to defecating, urinating, & sex, in public or in uniform. Grow the f*ck up . Its a fact of life. Babies get hungry. It's not unprofessional to feed your baby or to raise awareness. I feel sorry for all of you that feel inadequate that you must attack breast feeding mothers.