The new mom and Instagram model called out critics who slammed her recent post and shared a passionate message about normalizing breastfeeding.
It's only been two months since Robin Thicke and girlfriend April Love Geary welcomed their baby girl, and the new mom is already having to defend herself against critics attempting to shame her for sharing a breastfeeding photo to Instagram.
After the 23-year-old model posted a photo of herself nursing her infant daughter, Mia, on Saturday, English TV personality Chanelle Hayes took to Twitter to slam the pic, calling it "so strange."
In the photo, Geary appears topless as her little girl breastfeeds. To adhere to Instagram's highly contested policy forbidding photos showing women's nipples, she self-censored the photo with a black X over her exposed nipple. However, it seems that Hayes' issue stems from Geary's choice to post the picture at all.
"I’m all for breastfeeding and having a choice how to feed your baby but WHY do people feel the need to post pictures of themselves doing it?! Especially the new pic of Robin Thicke’s gf! She’s got hair done, makeup on, both boobs out. So strange. What’s the need?? #opinions."
Geary took to Instagram on Sunday to call Hayes out specifically, sharing a screenshot of her tweet alongside a nude photo Hayes, a glamour model, had posed for in the past.
"Hey @chanellehayes, maybe the next time you want to criticize me for posting a picture of myself breastfeeding you should really take a look at the pictures you've had taken," Geary wrote. "Not that taking nudes are wrong! The naked body is a beautiful thing! But don't be a hypocrite mama."
Hayes, who has two children of her own, defended herself in the comments of that post and on Twitter, explaining that the context of her topless photos were different, because it was her job to pose nude.
"I don’t think it should be done discreetly. I pumped breastmilk publicly ALOT when I had Frankie and Blakely I just don’t understand the reason behind posting pics. That’s all. Not hating or shaming I just don’t see why," Hayes tweeted, in response to a Twitter user asking why she felt breastfeeding shouldn't be public.
On Monday, Geary shared a flashback photo, showing the first time her little girl properly breastfed after being born.
In the caption, she reflected on the emotional bond nursing has forged between her and her baby, and shared a message about the importance of normalizing and de-sexualizing breastfeeding.
"The first time my baby girl latched onto my nipple," she wrote. "I was honestly so nervous that it wouldn't go well but she latched on instantly. I was so happy. There's really nothing like the bond a mother shares with her baby while she breastfeeds."
"It's such a shame that the world sexualizes a woman's breast so much," she continued. "Boobs are for babies, not your husband. And to the women who can't have babies/breastfeed/etc, your boobs are yours. Your body is yours. If you can't breastfeed, you are no less than someone who can. Every mothers journey is going to be different but that's what makes our lives so special."
Thicke and Geary began dating in 2015, following the "Blurred Lines" singer's divorce from Paula Patton, with whom he shares an 8-year-old son, Julian. The couple revealed that they were expecting their first child together in August 2017.
The happy new parents announced the birth of their little girl on Feb. 24, two days after her arrival, with a heartwarming video posted to Instagram. Check out the video below for more on the couple's adorable bundle of joy.
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