Facepalm Of The Day

Ahh, social media: a platform that many, many people see fit to use as a tool to spout out their most outlandish, harebrained thoughts on pretty much any given topic.

One topic that’s very much in the spotlight right now, as it should be, is the treatment of women around the world, from the #MeToo movement to #TimesUp.

One result of these movements is a closer examination the way men play into this dynamic, and a push to get them to take responsibility for anything they may do, consciously or not, to put women down. There are very real issues that reference the power imbalance between the genders.

However, sometimes someone brings up something that they think is a pressing issue relevant to gender inequality, when in reality it’s either some foolish nonsense or a red herring designed to detract from the real problems at hand. When this happens it’s reminiscent of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” because it trivializes the movement and diminishes it’s intended effects. It makes real supporters say, “No, this does not represent us! This person is crazy!”

Such was the case with one woman on Twitter, who felt compelled to weigh in with this piping hot take:

Wait…what?! Breastfeeding a baby boy is “teaching them that they can touch a woman’s body whenever they want?” Are you serious?

Equating an infant literally getting sustenance through his mother’s lactation, as mammals have been doing for millions of years, with men who are of age taking advantage of a woman’s sexuality against their will is honestly creepy and so messed up.

As Dr. Tracy Cassels wrote in a pieced titled “The Breastfeeding Instinct” on the blog Evolutionary Parenting, “If breastfeeding were not instinctual at all, none of us would be here. The very first humans and billions after have had to breastfeed without the help of various organizations there to tell them how to breastfeed…infants’ desire to stay alive means they are born with the knowledge of how to suckle and how to get to that breast if we leave them alone to do it.”

As she said, breastfeeding is simply human instinct. It’s totally unrelated to skewed gender norms and the sadly prevalent issue of consent in sexual encounters. This is to say that men should absolutely not “touch a woman’s body whenever they want,” but that has nothing to do with breastfeeding babies!

What do you think? Are people taking this #MeToo movement too far, or are these just the words of a lonely crackpot? Let us know in the comments below!