Bathsheba, Our Bodies, & Breastfeeding
I’d really wanted to post every day of National Breastfeeding Week, but yesterday’s post would not have been a gentle one.
After seeing a “Me, too” post about the biblical story of Bathsheba, it hit me like a ton of bricks just how much we are programmed, from a very young age, to believe that women’s bodies – and particularly their nakedness – is dangerous, sinful, and not to be trusted.
Seeing this post and revisiting this story as an adult was the first time in my life that I realised this story was NOT about Bathsheba being a wicked seductress with a beautiful lustful body, but about God punishing David for the rape and the forceful widowing of Bathsheba.
Interestingly, neither of these points were taught to me as a child, teenager, or adult (and I’ve received a LOT of religious education throughout my life). 🤔
And, as painful as it was to finally have these realisations, I can see now how helpful it was for me to be triggered.
Why?
Because it helped me understand even more of how we’ve arrived at our now, a now where a woman feeding her baby is looked upon as a sinful and shameful sexual act rather than a functional, biological norm.
Putting these pieces together allowed me to feel more compassion for those who spew hate as a result of having been filled with stories like the biblical one above (and, in my opinion, having had an ill-informed and damaging perspective of such stories emphasised to them).
It also strengthened my resolve to keep going.
To continue on this path of ensuring that breastfeeding can not only be seen, but also better understood. That curiosity around the subject of breastfeeding can be safely fostered here and that those who have chosen not to breastfeed, or for whom breastfeeding did not work out, can feel respected for their choices and their stories, too.
Ultimately, Well Fed Photography is so much more than a business – it is a platform for education, it is a space for important conversations, it is a safe space for personal transformation, and a place where people can be ensured that everything created and published comes from a place of love, joy, appreciation, and a genuine desire for us to live in a better, safer, kinder, and more encouraging world for all.
And while I may not have upheld the agreement to myself to post every day of National Breastfeeding Week… I’m glad that I didn’t because THIS post came from a place of power, not a place of victimhood and for that I am proud!
And P.S. The narrative that a woman’s body, nakedness, sensuality, or sexuality are inherently dangerous needs to change, too.
Females (and all beings, for that matter) deserve to be and remain whole – not physically, mentally, spiritually, energetically, sexually, or emotionally dismembered and separated from who they innately are or who they were meant to be in the name of keeping the rest of society safe.
This narrative is perverse, outdated, inaccurate, damaging, and very, very overdue for a change.
It’s time to bless it, release it, and reprogram a newer, more truthful, empowering, and holistic approach to seeing and understanding the human body and women’s bodies.
Our present selves and future generations will thank us for doing so!
So here’s to another day of celebration, another day with greater understanding, and another day with the potential to move forward together better.
Are you committed to changing the narrative with me? ✨
Happy National Breastfeeding Week.
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Book of Breastfeeding Stories
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