Tenessee mom, Wittney Hope, was at a Dillard’s store with her baby Riley when her child started getting fussy, which meant she wanted to nurse.
Being in a private establishment, Hope made sure to ask a store employee whether or not it would be okay for her to feed her crying baby.
The employee replied, “Sure thing!” whereafter Hope began to nurse her child in a secluded area of the upscale department store.
But then when she pulled down her shirt to give Riley her breast, the same store employee came up to her and told Hope she can’t “do THAT here”, and to take her hungry child to the restroom. Hope wasn’t about to subject her 18-month-old to the germy walls of a public restroom, so she opted instead to leave — and on her way out she saw something that caught her attention.
It was a giant ad for a brassiere featuring just breasts on a headless body. The irony didn’t escape this new mom, and she decided to clap back at the ever-so-obvious double standards on one Facebook post:
“I mean seriously,” wrote Wittney, “The lady’s face is not even in this. Why is it acceptable for a giant picture of BOOBS to be on the wall but I can not feed my child?”
Dillard’s HR responded with an apology, and offered that their company policy on breastfeeding is mom-friendly.
“Upon becoming aware of this situation, our store manager immediately reached out to our customer and apologized,” said the store, “We respect the right of mothers to nurse their children wherever they feel comfortable in doing so.”
But with Hope’s rant garnering over 2,000 shares, Dillard’s may have been desperate to clear their name with their customers.
Of the more than 600 comments on the original post, a few had particularly interesting things to say:
It’s a great plan for which we’re inclined to participate.