"I despise mum shamers. I am a shamer of mum shamers."
These were words uttered by Chrissy Teigen a while back, after once again having been on the receiving end of of some serious online mum shaming – a phenomenon you'll no doubt be aware of if you are a mum of this era.
Which is exactly the reason US photographer
Abbie Fox wanted to use her medium to bring attentionbring attention to the topic with a rather unique –and seriously amazing – photo series.
Fox, who herself is a mum of three, recently uploaded
series of portraits of children (her own three—8-year-old Maverick, 6-year-old Georgia, and Millie, who is 7 months—and clients' kids) posing with signs spelling out messages about "hot button" issues mums are often shamed for, like sleeping, feeding, and the decision to work full-time.
The photo series quickly went viral, and Fox explains to her, it was more a passion project than anything else.
"I was shamed for a lot of things, especially the feeding part," Fox explains to Motherly, explaining that when she was a first time mom her oldest, Maverick, had a hard time latching to nurse. For six weeks the family struggled, seeing doctors, nurses and specialists, and Fox cried herself to sleep at night.
"I was being told that I wasn't a good mother [unless] I could breastfeed him. And this was actually coming from people I thought were my friends," she explains. Fox had more success breastfeeding her next child, and nursed for three months, but it seemed there was always something else for people to be judgmental about.
So the photography series, "Anti Mommy Shamers Unite" was born out of the frustration of being shamed for her parenting decisions when (like all of us mamas) Fox is doing her best, and doing what is right for her family in her circumstances.
When it comes down to it, though, as mothers, we are all just, for most part anyway, doing the best we can for our kids, and no mum deserves to be shamed for doing what she believes is the best for her child.
Have YOU ever been 'mum shamed?' Over what? Let us know in the comments or tweet us at @Herfamilydotie
Fox, who herself is a mum of three, recently uploaded
Have YOU ever been 'mum shamed?' Over what? Let us know in the comments or tweet us at @Herfamilydotie
