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woman walking on grass field during daytime
Julian Hochgesang
Life

This Model Walked the Runway While Breastfeeding & It Was Just What The World Needed

Iesha Ismail

Mara Martin has been making her mark as one of the finalists in the Sports Illustrated‘s Miami Swim Week fashion show this past week. Last Sunday night, Martin inspired many as she walked down the runway in a stunning gold swimsuit with her 5-month old baby in her arms, breastfeeding openly. Of course, she looked incredible in natural makeup and a wet hairstyle, but what could be even more beautiful than a mother feeding her baby?

While breastfeeding in public has been an unnecessarily controversial issue, this touching moment between Mara and her little one continued an important message about normalizing a very necessary process of a person’s body. The bold move definitely sparked discussions on breastfeeding on social media, as commenters expressed their views on the subject following the show.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit shared a clip of Mara’s catwalk on their Instagram page, including a sweet caption saying, “GIRL POWER! #SISwimSearch Sweet 16 finalist Mara walks the runway while breastfeeding her five-month-old baby”. After the publication posted the video, some people took to the comments to let Mara know how she inspired them, while others advised that breastfeeding should be a solely private practice. (Because there are still those people who won’t let moms just live.) 

CBS News notes that some commenters were touched by the act, saying things like “so beautiful,” “Amazing…I absolutely love this, well done for normalizing breastfeeding” and “Absolutely amazing! On so many levels! Thank you from mums everywhere”. Others were concerned saying that “it is sad to note that this supermodel did not have her special time to nurse, bond with her baby in her time in privacy” and “It’s attention seeking. Breastfeeding is a private time between mother and child not for show.” 

While not everyone may agree with breastfeeding in public, not every woman has the luxury of breastfeeding in private all the time. When it must be done in a more public setting, it’s vital that people don’t regard a completely natural process as something vulgar. 

Martin also tells the Daily Mail that breastfeeding during her catwalk actually helped with her fashion show anxiety. Mara’s walk beautified breastfeeding in a powerful way, so we’re not surprised someone like her made it this far into the competition. With this awesome display of motherly love, many hope to see women’s bodies, mothers included, continuously celebrated. 

Iesha Ismail studied as a double major in English and Women's Studies at the University of Florida. Iesha is the High School/Her Future editor, a Feature Writer, and Style Blogger for Her Campus National. She was also the senior editor for Her Campus UFL and senior content editor for UF's Sparks Magazine. She is currently working in editorial for a financial research publication firm, and a guest contributor for Muslim Women Professionals. Iesha loves to observe nature and fashion as inspiration for all kinds writing she's into. Fashion, culture, drawing, and animation are just a few of the passions she plays with on the daily. Whether it's writing colorful stories or sketching in her worn out sketchbooks, Iesha always dabbles in anything art.