A few months ago the photographer Tara Ruby started a collection of photos that she titled as "Uniformed Breastfeeding Portrait" to show breastfeeding away from home; breastfeeding at work; breastfeeding where the baby needs it. One of those photos was already mentioned in Babies and more, that of the female soldiers who posed breastfeeding their babies.
In February he published this beautiful photo of a woman breastfeeding dressed as a firefighter and, although on Facebook it has been very successful, the photo has caused an unwanted and unexpected event: the dismissal of the husband of the woman who nurses the baby.
A woman breastfeeding with her husband's uniform
In February I saw the photo. I liked it, because it mixed the rudeness that a female firefighter can have with the fragility and purity of a baby being fed. A woman prepared for danger with a baby who needs everything to be calm.
But apparently she was not the one who worked as a firefighter, but her husband, who lent her the uniform to pose. The message is the same. Are there not women who work as a firefighter? However, this transfer of the uniform for this purpose did not please those responsible for the couple and chose to fire him.
But ... why fire him?
It happened in New Mexico, United States, after authorities learned that his wife had posed with her uniform breastfeeding a baby. The reason for the dismissal is not very clear because in the city where they work there is no specific policy regarding breastfeeding, either for or against.
There is also no regulation in the Fire Station that says that firefighters' women are prohibited from wearing their uniforms, or they will be fired ... so without knowing the reasons, there is only room for imagination. And in my case I do not have to imagine much to know that he has been thrown out of his job because they are treating the matter as if his wife had put on the fireman's suit to take a pornographic photo.
A provocative photo that shows the name of the firefighter and the acronym of the body. A degrading photo. A photo that dirties the good name of firefighters. A disgusting photo that neither children nor other citizens should see, of a woman dressed in her husband's breastfeeding uniform. This is how you should see this image. And yet it's the opposite.
As Tara Ruby herself says to La República:
The institution is not supporting the standardization of breastfeeding ... or supporting anyone who can breastfeed dressed in uniform. I think it's a double standard. There are firemen costumes for Halloween and is that ok? Or is it just because she is breastfeeding and that is the real problem?
Is that. She is breastfeeding. It is not causing. She is just a woman who takes care of her baby, showing the world that the women who work are also mothers, and vice versa.
And yet, there are still places, cities, people and cultures in the world that see it as something to hide, to repudiate: "Do what you want, woman, but I don't see you. Breastfeed if you want, but don't in the name of firefighters. "
