A provocative campaign featuring men'breastfeeding' children hopes to challenge stigma around public breastfeeding.
Because some people - who must not realise this is 2014 and not the medieval era - still take issue with a woman feeding her baby in a public space. *Pinches self*
The key to de-stigmatising public breastfeeding is enlisting more male support, according to Hector Cruz the photographer behind the Project Breastfeeding campaign.
"We need to educate men to help empower women," he told HuffPost UK Lifestyle.
Hector became exposed to the issues surrounding breastfeeding after his wife had trouble nursing their first daughter, Sophia. Hector was then excluded from their hospital's breastfeeding classes (as he wasn't a mother) and became increasingly aware of the opposition to public breastfeeding.
He came to the conclusion that if he could breastfeed, he would. And he would do so unashamedly in public.
And so the Project Breastfeeding campaign was born with the tagline 'If I could, I would'.
"Women need to see - and not just hear - that we fathers support them and are just as invested in the breastfeeding relationship as they are!"
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Project Breastfeeding
Perhaps in response to Jezebel's article, which labelled the project as "annoying" and accused it of reigniting the 'Breast Is Best' debate, Hector told HuffPost UK Lifestyle:
"Breastfeeding might not be the path everyone takes - it is an easy journey for some women and a difficult one for others, but what is important is getting dads involved.
"It is unnatural for us as society to tell a woman to do the most natural thing her body was made to do!"
Tamsin Kelly, editor of Parentdish.co.uk, believes the campaign is "well intentioned", but ultimately "patronising".
"Men can’t breastfeed. That’s simple biology. So why pretend otherwise?" she told HuffPost UK Lifestyle.
"Sadly, there may still be women who feel nervous breastfeeding in public – but I’ve yet to see a woman strip down to her waistband and hang out on a building site while breastfeeding. Breastfeeding babies can be tucked under tops and no one will be any the wiser.
"Men’s role in breastfeeding is to provide food – lots of it, regularly, with minimum fuss. Job done."
Support the campaign on Project BreastFeeding's GoFundMe page.
The Project BreastFeeding campaign is partner with Mama Hope and sponsored by Beco Baby Carriers. Project BreastFeeing will be speaking at MommyCon events