Even Mila Kunis wasn’t spared from being shamed for breastfeeding in public. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the 32-year-old actress talked about her experiences:
“…I did nurse my child and I literally breastfed everywhere. There were many times where I didn’t bring a cover with me, and so I just did it in a restaurant, in the subway, in the park, at airports, and in planes.”
“Why did I do it in public? Because I had to feed my child. She’s hungry. I need to feed her whether it’s out of a bottle or out of my boob no matter where I was.”
“Why did I do it in public? Because I had to feed my child.”
Photo: ashtonmila on Instagram
When Kunis and her husband Ashton Kutcher encountered negative reactions towards Kunis’ public breastfeeding, they could only be perplexed.
“It always made my husband and I feel a little weird. It took us a little back because people actually looked at us in a shameful [way], and we were like, ‘Oh my god,’ because it’s so not a sexual act.”
What breastfeeding shamers fail to understand is that breastfeeding is natural, and that feeding their hungry child is mothers’ top priority. Kunis went on to share her thoughts on breastfeeding and how society needs to be more accepting of mothers who choose to breastfeed their children in public:
“I think it’s unfortunate that people are so hard on women who choose to do it and do it in public. In the States and in our culture, we sexualise the breast so much that there’s an aspect of it that people just don’t know how to wrap their head around the idea of showing your breast in public. But I respect the opinions on both sides. If it’s not for you, don’t look.”
Kunis and Kutcher welcomed their daughter Wyatt Isabelle Kutcher in October 2014. In June 2016, the couple confirmed that they are expecting another child.
Photo: ashtonmila on Instagram