By now, Mila Kunis' realness is well-documented, from her rescues of nervous interviewers to her discussions about the color of her daughter's snot. So it shouldn't be a surprise that she spoke openly about breast-feeding at the Bad Moms NYC premiere earlier this week. The actress, who is pregnant with her second child, not only defended her decision to breast-feed wherever she wants, she also stood up for every mother's approach to the increasingly touchy subject of nursing.
"I support every woman’s choice in what she wants to do and whatever makes them happy, but for me, I did nurse my child and I literally breastfed everywhere," Kunis told Vanity Fair. "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," she continued. "Why did I do it in public? Because I had to feed my child. She’s hungry."
Kunis then described people's reactions to seeing her nurse in public: “It always made my husband and I feel a little weird... People actually looked at us in a shameful [way]." Unfortunately, she is by no means the first mother to feel shamed for breast-feeding in public. Although the vast majority of states — 49 of them, plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands — allow women to breast-feed in public, a cultural resistance to the practice persists.
Kunis was quick to point out the root of breast-feeding's social stigma: "In the States and in our culture, we sexualize 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."
She concluded on a diplomatic note, acknowledging that there are two sides to the issue, but that doesn't mean she plans to cover up when it's time to feed her second baby: "I respect the opinions on both sides. If it’s not for you, don’t look."
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