When Lucifer star Lesley-Ann Brandt shared a photo of herself breastfeeding her newborn son, the body-shamers immediately emerged in full force. The 35-year-old actress has fired back with a perfect response, in which she totally calls out the double standards of how people view the female body.
The initial post depicted Brandt with her son, Kingston Payne, who was born last month. "This is motherhood," she captioned the sweet photo. "Needing to pee so badly but you just rocked the perfect latch and Bebe is nuzzled in nicely for a good feed. Priorities people. Priorities. #kingstonpayne #myking #normalizebreastfeeding #breastfeedwithoutfear #theseboobsareoutofcontrol."
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Several of Brandt's followers seized the opportunity to shame her. "I don't wave my dick in your face, don't milk your tits in front of me," one Twitter user wrote. "Goto [sic] the restroom."
Brandt has a strong message for this person and everyone else who shames women for performing the natural act of breastfeeding.
"Apparently an innocent photo of me feeding my child has 'offended' some on FB and sparked a really interesting and disturbing debate," Brandt wrote in a another Instagram post. "'It’s a private moment, she’s seeking attention, why would she post that, gross, women have been doing it for thousands of years, so what, you should cover up.'"
"The irony is that these same men and sadly women are all but fine to see these boobs in my work (Spartacus) but breastfeeding my son? How dare I!" she continued. “What does it say about how we treat mothers and women when folks are fine for an actress to show cleavage or boobs in a show, but heaven forbid she celebrates what is arguably one of the hardest things she’s done, nourish her child!"
Brandt added that she plans to use social media to inspire and encourage other new moms who may feel self-conscious about breastfeeding in public spaces. However, she added that no mother should feel pressured to breastfeed if it's not the right choice for she and her child.
"Whether she chooses to or not, is able to or not, I respect every women’s decision and I stand firm in love and support for each and every mother," Brandt said. "With world breastfeeding week having ended just yesterday, messages and points of view like this, only inspire me to continue on and advocate for normalizing what is perfectly natural AND celebrating how amazing a women’s body is."