Breastfeeding Olympians Will Now Be Allowed To Bring The Babies To The Games. This Is A Landmark Move

Breastfeeding Olympians Will Now Be Allowed To Bring The Babies To The Games. This Is A Landmark Move

I remember, once when we had written something about getting period leaves, a woman exhibited the internalised misogyny in our system citing the option as a sign of weakness. She said that a woman needing a period leave is weak and doesn’t represent all women well. She said that we’ve been fighting to be treated equally, so that just makes us unequal. But providing support for a woman’s biological function isn’t giving her leverage. If our work culture can’t even provide for the basics of biology and human evolution, how are we benefitting from taking the human race forward? Reproduction is not for our personal luxury, right? Thankfully, the International Olympic Committee said that breastfeeding olympians can now bring their babies to Tokyo.

This landmark move happened after Kim Gaucher, a 37-year-old Canadian Olympian said that she was being forced to make a very tough decision. She had to choose between the Olympics and being with her three-month-old baby girl.

“We very much welcome the fact that so many mothers are able to continue to compete at the highest level, including at the Olympic Games. We are very pleased to hear that the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee has found a special solution regarding the entry to Japan for mothers who are breastfeeding and their young children,” IOC said in a statement.

Earlier, the IOC had said that families of the Olympians won’t be allowed to travel to Tokyo because of the pandemic. However, Kim Gaucher pointed out that there’s going to international media, sponsors and audiences but somehow, she won’t be able to breastfeed her daughter.

“We’ve tried appeals. Everyone says they’re on board, but nobody can do anything. Let’s see if we can make a difference. It’s 2021. Let’s make working moms normal,” Gaucher expressed.

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This is a milestone move as women will not be forced to choose between their careers and breastfeeding their babies. It’s important that breastfeeding olympians be allowed to get their babies along, so they don’t have biology working against them. If the world really made rules that didn’t made everything a disadvantage to us, life would be pretty good.

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Akanksha Narang

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