World Breastfeeding Week: Ashley Graham inspires new moms as unwanted stares and stigma fail to upset her
Ashley Graham is a trendsetter. The 32-year-old Sports Illustrated model has made a mark for full-bodied self in an arena that was dominated by people of skinny build. She's a torch-bearer for women of all shapes with a dream to make a career on the runway. She also became a mother this year as she and her husband of 10 years, Justin Ervin, welcomed their son in January. Since then she's made sure to be consistent in her posting patterns on Instagram where she posts a lot of videos and photos of herself nursing her child.
Since Isaac's birth, Ashley has never been shy about showing off herself while she's feeding Isaac. A week ago, she posted a photograph of herself and Isaac latched at her breast. She had just taken a dip in the pool and was indulging in a little poolside chilling with her son, according to the caption that read, "after pool chilaxin." She also exhibited some of her multi-tasking skills in a post three weeks ago wherein she was pumping out her milk as well as answering her emails and getting work done, at the same time.
Ashley is also someone who keeps it real with the mothers who follow her on her Instagram. Motherhood is beautiful but no one ever said it's easy. Ashley too faces a fair share of issues while on this journey and she documents them with equal fervor.
There is a lot of stigmas attached to breastfeeding mothers who choose to nurse their babies in public. They've been subjected to a lot of gnarling stares and hushed nasties been spoken against them for practically trying to provide nourishment to a life that depends on breast milk for sustenance. Ashley too has been at the receiving end of a lot of hate for documenting her public breastfeeding on social media. "People just want to prove a point on Social Media these days We get it..you breastfeed your baby and you are a proud mom.. but save some things for yourself, not everything you do has to be posted for the whole world to see. For what? So they can applaud you for breastfeeding your baby ?" read a comment on a photo she posted two weeks ago.
However, she stays unbothered and unaffected and like the trailblazer she is, she keeps marching forward with Isaac at her breast.
August 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Week and with this column, we highlight the journey of celebrity moms who advocate normalizing breastfeeding.