This breastfeeding mom was secretly filmed and publicly shamed—by another mom

Imagine going to the beach with your family, enjoying the sunshine and water, and feeding your baby under the shade of an umbrella while taking in the summer day. And then imagine waking up the next day, logging onto social media, and seeing that someone not only secretly filmed you while you were feeding your child, but posted the video publicly to mom shame you for breastfeeding.

That’s exactly what happened to Isabele Lomax, because for whatever reason we’re still shaming mothers for breastfeeding their children in public. (Those darn infants just don’t understand they’re not allowed to be hungry unless it’s in the privacy of their own home!) Arguably the worst part (if there is a “worst part” in such an overall awful thing to do) is that the shaming was done by a fellow mom.

“I’m not shaming woman who breast feed their babies. I’m shaming the woman who breast feed in public with no respect to cover themselves up and just let their boobs hangout (nipple included) for everyone to see! COVER TF UP !!!” the caption on the post read. “I shouldn’t have to cover my son’s eyes and explain why your boobs are out, and quite frankly I don’t want to see it either. Have some respect!”

Sigh.

It’s just such a violation, to be secretly filmed and then publicly lambasted for doing absolutely nothing wrong. Lomax handled it by responding gracefully—and powerfully—on TikTok.

“Imagine waking up, getting on Facebook, and seeing this video of yourself yesterday at the beach,” she says. “Not only did this woman walk past me multiple times with her son, you had every opportunity in the world to say something to me. Not that I would have cared or stopped what I was doing, but you instead choose to post a video of me and my child on Facebook, publicly for the world to see.”

And just like those who say we should feed our children in public restrooms while sitting on filthy toilets, Lomax brought up a sold rebuttal to the complaint:

“What if you were told that the only way that you could eat at the beach is if you were covered up by a towel?” she asks.

She also addresses the four-year-old child in question, who the shaming mother is so concerned about.

“Also, let it be known that her son is literally 4 years old. If you are sexualizing a breast to a 4-year-old, you’ve got your own set of issues,” she points out.

(My own daughter was two months shy of four when her sister was born, and explaining the whole breastfeeding thing to her took all of two seconds. She was unfazed, other than the fact that she referred to her cluster-feeding newborn sister as “Boob Monster” in between fits of giggles.

“Next time you see a mom breastfeeding her child in public, covered up or not, tell her how good of a job she’s doing,” Lomax concluded.

And stop filming people without their consent! It shouldn’t need to be said, but doing that—and then publicly posting it for the world to see—IS NOT OK.