This week, US senator Tammy Duckworth successfully spearheaded the passing of a bill that allows new parents to bring babies onto the Senate floor. The landmark legislation paves the way for more family-friendly policies in the governing body. But the vote also revealed a persistent bias in the Senate: Many people are still uncomfortable with the sight of a woman breastfeeding.
This week, US senator Tammy Duckworth successfully spearheaded the passing of a bill that allows new parents to bring babies onto the Senate floor. The landmark legislation paves the way for more family-friendly policies in the governing body. But the vote also revealed a persistent bias in the Senate: Many people are still uncomfortable with the sight of a woman breastfeeding.
Duckworth’s colleagues had a lot of questions for Duckworth about whether she would breastfeed her daughter during Senate sessions. Presumably, some senators were worried it would either be a distraction or demonstrate a lack of decorum.
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Duckworth has indicated that she has no plans to breastfeed on the Senate floor. But elsewhere in the world, female politicians have opted to breastfeed in front of their colleagues—with varying results. Here’s an incomplete list of the women who’ve established that breastfeeding is accepted in their governing bodies, and those who’ve found that the act is still taboo.
Attitudes towards breastfeeding politicians are not always welcoming. Some female politicians have gotten kicked out of parliament for even attempting it, while others were simply told their babies weren’t welcome.
This reporting is part of a series supported by a grant from the Bernard van Leer Foundation. The author’s views are not necessarily those of the Bernard van Leer Foundation.
