Even in this (somewhat) enlightened day and age, moms breastfeeding their babies in public is still controversial. There are people who honestly believe that it’s inappropriate, mostly because it involves exposing the mom’s boobs partially, and as we all know, boobs are not viewed by most as milk machines, they’re viewed as sexual objects.
That’s why this picture of actor Rachel McAdams posted on Instagram is so totally fierce.
Claire Rothstein, photographer and founder of Girls, Girls, Girls magazine, was the one who posted the picture, but she obviously had McAdams’ consent. She was in the process of shooting pictures of McAdams when the time came for McAdams to pump breastmilk. In the caption, Rothstein wrote,
“A million reasons why I wanted to post this picture. Obviously #rachelmcadams looks incredible and was quite literally the dream to work with but also this shoot was about 6 months post her giving birth to her son, so between shots she was expressing/pumping as still breastfeeding. We had a mutual appreciation disagreement about who’s idea it was to take this picture but I’m still sure it was hers which makes me love her even more. Breastfeeding is the most normal thing in the world and I can’t for the life of me imagine why or how it is ever frowned upon or scared of. I don’t even think it needs explaining but just wanted to put this out there, as if it even changes one person’s perception of something so natural, so normal, so amazing then that’s great. Besides she’s wearing Versace and @bulgariofficial diamonds and is just f**king major.”
People on Instagram loved the photo and left supportive comments.
But, the internet being the internet, not everyone was on board.
It truly is a powerful photo.