By Liv of livebysurprise.com
Mary Ann Classon thinks of herself as a mamma warrior. The 42-year-old mother of five from California recently took a stand at a Sacramento restaurant to empower other bottle feeding moms. Her daughter was hungry, she says, and she had the nerve to feed her in public.
As she unsheathed the nipple of her Playtex nurser, she says another mom in the restaurant “looked at me like I was an abomination.” Mary Ann refused to be moved. She not only continued the public feeding, but stared the other mom down.
Posting a pic of the confrontation on Facebook, she announced, “It looks like I’m staring out the window, but I’m actually gawking right back at her. She was giving me a look of utter revulsion to humiliate me into covering up the bottle.”
Speaking of the viral photo that now has over 43,000 shares on Facebook, Mary Ann feels that as a feminist and a mother, she has the right to stand up for the rights of formula feeders everywhere.
“Bottles and formula are made to nourish your children. Their sole purpose is to deliver the food right into your baby’s mouth! There’s nothing unnatural about that. There’s no difference between me feeding my baby with a bottle and you feeding yourself with a spoon.”
The Facebook post garnered its share of comments, most of them supportive. One mom said, “This is the most bravest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Despite the supportive comments, there were also a number of posters who commented that public bottle feeding is disgusting and expressed concerns about their children seeing rubber nipples. To those people she suggests, “As a parent, you should respect my parental choices and explain that that’s the way babies feed.”
Mary Ann says she just wants to normalize bottle feeding so that no one feels ashamed. She says she’s not posting the photo for attention – she just wants bottle feeding mothers to feel comfortable wherever they feed. “It’s simple,” she says. “If you don’t want to see it, then look the other way.”
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About the Author
Liv is the pseudonym reformed divorcee and single mom – now married, coparenting and working mother of three. She’s been featured on ScaryMommy, HuffPost Divorce, Your Tango, Club Mid and DivorcedMoms.com. More at livebysurprise.com.