Public Breastfeeding Norms: A comparison between the U.S. and Ethiopia.

Developing nations should be both critical and authentic in their development approaches, for simply adopting the norms of more developed nations could come at the expense of their own progressive norms. A regard in which Ethiopia, one of the poorest nations in the world, is eons ahead of the United States, one of the richest nations in the world, is public breastfeeding. Women in Ethiopia enjoy the liberty of public breastfeeding without judgment while women in the United States still shy away in ambivalent shame. Despite trends that show that the more educated a population is the more developed and equitable its society, in this regard the U.S. falls short, for shaming women for breastfeeding their children in public is hardly equitable. This misguided practice is not only unfair to the women targeted but also to their children who might miss out on nutrition that is vital to their growth and development.

How can a nation funding programs in the developing world to promote gender equity shame its women for breastfeeding their children in public? Perhaps the answer to this question can be found by unpacking the over-sexualization of breasts coupled with the desire to subdue female sexuality in the United States. The United States is obsessed with breasts - they are everywhere. Breasts are particularly ubiquitous in popular culture – music videos, album covers, movies, art, etc. They are so sexualized that women with larger breasts are generally perceived as “sexier” than women with smaller breasts and people tend to have a hard time dissociating breasts with sex even when the relationship is between mother and child. However, while breasts are ubiquitously portrayed in pop culture it is solely for hetero-male enjoyment and the women who display them are generally regarded as “obscene,” “promiscuous,” or “slutty.” Therefore, by that logic, “decent” women do not show their breasts in public not even for the sake of their children. Those who do are met with uncomfortable gazes and remarks that shame them for performing one of the most natural acts that exist between a mother and her child.

In Ethiopia, one of the most religious and conservative countries in the world, breasts are not particularly sexualized and women can often be seen in public without a bra and with their nipples protruding through their shirts. While such an image might turn on heterosexual men in the United States, men in Ethiopia don’t seem to give those women a second glance. This is because breasts are perceived as primarily for feeding children and then as sexual organs. This means that a woman in Ethiopia can pull out her breast in any public place to feed her child without any hesitation or judgment and those who surround her don’t experience any discomfort.

The fact that a woman in Ethiopia has the freedom to breastfeed her child anywhere while a woman in the United States would have to think it through and perhaps find a private area raises many questions about the nature of development and our objectives. Is development linear? If not, then is it really possible to measure the consummate advancement of a country without considering such norms? Is it possible for a country to prosper economically and simultaneously flounder in specific social areas? While many questions are left unanswered one thing is true, that the freedoms afforded women are vastly different from society to society, and that at least in this regard, Ethiopia has one up on us.