These Beautiful #Brelfies Are The Latest Trend In Normalizing Breastfeeding
Every mama is unique and idiosyncratic, but breastfeeding is one of the most normal things a mom can do with her child. The fact that there needs to be a movement to normalize breastfeeding is pretty ridiculous, but we’re glad to see moms mobilizing around the issue in some pretty innovative ways.
Australian Senator Larissa Waters has recently made headlines (and history!) for breastfeeding her baby daughter, Alia Joy, on Australia's Parliament floor — and now, a new trend in the movement to normalize breastfeeding is gaining traction. The trend has stemmed from the fact that social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have, in the past, removed breastfeeding photos because they expose womens’ breasts. Nursing moms, rightfully ticked off that their insanely natural and necessary act of feeding their children was being construed as something lewd, began posting “brelfies” (yes, you guessed it — that means “breastfeeding selfies.”)
Now, mamas are taking their efforts a step further and using an app, PicsArt, to give their brelfies a makeover — plus adding the #TreeofLife hashtag to their posts. PicsArt allows users to edit their photos so they appear to have beautiful, intricate tree branch imagery layered onto the pictures. Of course, the tree symbol, coupled with the #TreeofLife hashtag, is meant to symbolize the fact that the act of breastfeeding creates an innate, life-giving bond between mothers and their babies.
PicsArt is pretty thrilled that moms have been utilizing their app for this purpose. In a blog post, they write:
"What we love even more is how these women are editing photos not just for themselves, but as gifts for each other. The spirit of collaboration and the celebration of life is definitely something PicsArt supports 100-percent. Recounted in folklore, culture and fiction, [the tree of life] has often related to immortality or fertility. Today, it has become a representation of the #normalizebreastfeeding movement."
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