YouTube/Sparrow Folk

By breastfeeding her infant in public, are lactating mothers exhibitionists?

Australian singer Juliet Moody and her group Sparrow Fold band made fun of that concept of lactating mums by releasing the song Ruin Your Day which has gone viral in the Internet with about 150,000 hits in one week.

The song hits at the dirty looks and negative comments that breastfeeding women often get when they bring out their tits while in public because their infant is hungry. While the mammary glands were primarily made to feed babies not capable of ingesting solid food yet, society has sexualised the female breast.

Porn images emphasise the large size of the female breast, while many women risk health by undergoing breast enlargement procedures just to have larger breasts perceived as attractive to men. Recently a female porn star, Elizabeth Starr, revealed she has to have her Cup O breasts removed through mastectomy because of a botched breast augmentation procedure now banned or risk her life due to complications.

YouTube/Tomo News US

Moody isn't just a singer, but a real mum of four. Her youngest child is only 11 months old. The Aussie musician recalled catty remarks or dirty looks she got because she had to ensure her baby doesn't starve.

"I've had my fair share of comments under the breath or dirty looks, but, thankfully, I've never been kicked out or told to go and sit on the toilet seat," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Juliet.

She added, "It frustrated me that it was such as issue ... and it made me step back and say, 'What is the real problem here?' Then we thought that if we made it a bit of a joke that boobs are scary and frightening, it might make people think, 'OK, what is my actual problem with it - if I see someone feeding, what am I worried is going to happen to me?'"

If it's any consolation to Juliet and other lactating Aussie mums, they have a champion in a most unlikely ally - Pope Francis! The pontiff in January, to commemorate the Catholic feast of the Baptism of Jesus Christ, told mums who were inside the Sistine Chapel not to hesitate to breastfeed their babies if the infants were hungry.

YouTube/The Catholic TV Network

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