If Men Were The Ones Who Breastfed, There Would Be No Stigma Attached To It

I love the idea behind Project Breastfeeding. Founder Hector Cruz thought of it when his wife experienced trouble breastfeeding their first child.

Project Breastfeeding is a photo campaign with the slogan, “If I could, I would.” Cruz’s aim was to destigmatize public breastfeeding while showing fathers they play an important role in breastfeeding also. Some women have been rubbed the wrong way by the campaign, claiming it’s uselessly overstating a man’s role. One writer from Jezebel claims that the campaign “inadvertently comes off as another source of pressure in the “Breast is best” debate.”

I disagree. I think the more support women have the better. I also think when you advocate for breastfeeding acceptance, there are always going to be those accusing you of coming from the “breast is best” place. I think Cruz is doing great work here. I just would have gone a little more hardcore and truthful with the message.

Here are a few examples:

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If I could caption this it would say, “If I Could, No One Would Even Care”

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This one would say, “If I Could, There Would Be Pumping Rooms In All Corporate Offices”

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This one would say, “If I Could, No One Would Think It Was Sexual, Indecent, Or Inappropriate”

On Project Breastfeeding’s Facebook page Cruz says, “I have embarked on a national campaign to destigmatize breastfeeding in public, to educate men, and to empower women to feel comfortable with feeding their baby.” Sorry – I don’t think he’s overstepping here. This is wonderful. Breastfeeding women can use all the help they can get when it comes to public acceptance. We all know there wouldn’t be as much if any pushback if men were the ones who had to do it. But I appreciate that there are men who are down for the cause.

(photos: Hector Cruz/ Project Breastfeeding)

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