A nongovernment organization (NGO) issued an apology on Sunday for posting a picture of a mother breastfeeding her child on the Beijing subway, and accusing her of "exposing sexual organs in public areas," igniting public discussion on the decency of public breastfeeding, according to a report by the Global Times.
"We apologize for posting the picture 'Breastfeeding in Beijing subway' and its social impact," the NGO named Beijing Tale wrote on its Sina Weibo account. "We are not against breastfeeding; we respect it. The purpose of posting the picture is to call for a discussion of whether it is proper to breastfeed in public without a cover."
The picture was first posted on Friday. It showed a mother breastfeeding her child in a subway car, accompanied with a caption saying that the mother should be mindful of her behavior and refrain from exposing sexual organs in public areas.
"Hey, mother, is it proper for you to do this? Or should I remind you that you are taking the subway in Beijing, not the bus in your village," read the post, which the NGO later deleted, according to a report by online news portal guancha.cn.
Hundreds of netizens shared the picture, and over 400,000 of them participated in a discussion of whether it is proper for mothers to breastfeed in public.
Some netizens criticized the position of the NGO for not respecting the mother. Some argued that a mother should be allowed to feed her child whenever or wherever the child is hungry.
On its apology on Sunday, the NGO explained that it believes mothers should breastfeed with a cover if conditions are suitable. It said that another option would be for mothers to face away from others when breastfeeding their children.