Already YouTube-famous for his controversial social experiments, Joey Salads has just thrown a can of gasoline on the debate over public breastfeeding and body shaming with a video that has been seen by more than 100,000 people in a single day. As seen above, our attitudes about breasts seem to change completely at the very moment they are used to feed a child, at which point a woman’s chest is no longer “hot” and becomes “disgusting.”
I’m not surprised by the reactions to either woman. I am a little surprised that anyone would stand and argue why it’s acceptable for one woman’s breasts to be half-exposed and not the other’s, but I notice both arguers seemed to be men in their 20s (I don’t know if that’s actually relevant or not).
It’s possible this is an accurate depiction of two-plus hours of video; it’s also possible only the most extreme examples of reactions were selected. There’s literally no way of knowing.
Yes, society needs to relax about breastfeeding. I’m not certain Joey Salads has advanced that debate with this video. (And for the record, I’m a straight male who has no problem with mothers breastfeeding in public and, equally relevant to this video, who doesn’t ogle women’s breasts.)
–alopecia