Let’s talk about breasts.

Earlier this month, a Vancouver woman, Kristen Hilderman, was shamed by a flight attendant for breastfeeding on the plane without a cover. A similar event took place in a Manitoban mall only days before. While feeding her child, Tara Léger was asked to move into a washroom, despite the fact that she was discreetly nursing where she was.

Both women reported feeling attacked and humiliated by those who called their breastfeeding to the attention of those around them, suggesting that what they were doing was “offensive.”

Cue the eyerolls from the large community of people who think that public breastfeeding is either a non-issue, or that asking women to “cover up” and “take it elsewhere” is an appropriate response.

But the truth is that standing up for public breastfeeding is incredibly important in struggle for gender equality. To shame a woman for breastfeeding publicly sends the message that they should self-consciously hide what they are doing.

To nurse a child is not about publicly displaying your breasts. It’s about nourishment. Mothers aren’t looking to make a statement or expose themselves — they simply want to feed their children. Breastfeeding is completely natural, and is proven to have many health benefits for newborns, yet too many women are ogled at and receive rude comments.

Mothers aren’t looking to make a statement or to expose themselves.

Every day we see sex on TV and underdressed models on the covers of magazines. If the society we live in has no issue advertising the human body, why do so many people feel uncomfortable with mothers who breastfeed? The short answer is that, when the female body presents itself in any sort of nonsexual way, the general public doesn’t seem to know how to react.

According to Léger, mothers have to overcome “humility hurdles” when it comes to nursing, and if that’s the case, then the last thing we should do is go out of our way to shame them. The idea that breastfeeding is in some way a personal offence is ridiculous. Women don’t do it for themselves; they do it because their child needs to be healthy and fed.

It’s high time we start respecting them and their bodies, instead of accusing them of indecency.

The truth is that breasts are not objects to be romanticized and sexualized; they are a part of the body that serves an important role in terms of child upbringing. A woman should never feel ashamed for using them for this purpose.

Breastfeeding in public is not the problem; how we think of the female body is. It’s their choice where to breastfeed, and it’s up to them to decide what their child needs. I sure wouldn’t want to eat my lunch in the bathroom, and I doubt mothers want their babies to either.