Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Breastfeeding celebrities

When I was looking for breastfeeding pictures for my last post, I found in Google image search a photo of Maggie Gyllenhaal nursing in public. I thought it was so cute, until I clicked on the image's origin URL and realized it was posted on a site dedicated to celebrity nip slips and other wardrobe malfunctions. (I did mention I had SafeSearch off -- this is one of the hazards.)

It made me pretty mad that it was categorized with embarrassing, erotic, or private moments. But I am glad that Mama Gyllenhaal doesn't seem to consider it any of those things. Hooray!

The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog put up a post over a year ago (with a lot of good links if you're interested in pursuing that line of inquiry) about the trend of celebrity breastfeeding, and I think the popularity has only continued since. I've had Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Garner's nursing mentioned to me by non-mothers, and I can't help but think that the attention, even quasi-negative paparazzi attention, helps normalize and, yes, popularize breastfeeding, just as recent babywearing shots have for slinging. Who cares if it's a fad right now, as long as it sticks around?

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