Michael Buckner/Getty ImagesMayim Bialik is a proponent of attachment parenting, even though it's caused some controversy.
The Big Bang Theory actress, 38, once again defended breastfeeding in public during a HuffPost Live interview Monday. "I received a tremendous amount of backlash," she said, referring to when she nursed her then 3-year-old son Fred on a New York City subway train. "What I like to point out is that was the best way for that subway ride to be pleasant for everyone. It was the end of a very long day."
The single mom said she simply put Fred's needs first. "That was not a weak moment of parenting but a conscious decision of, 'I have the best way to make this child happy and content right now," she said.
Bialik then credited the Jewish parenting site Kveller with providing "a safe place for me to speak up to the thousands and thousands of women who parent this way who get people harassing them all the time, and people looking at us funny in every department store or wherever else we nurse."
The Blossom star said she never tried to make people squirm when she breastfed in public: "When I was nursing, I didn't feel the need to be immodest, but I also feel like that's going to vary from woman to woman. I would try to be absolutely respectful and conscious of the community I was in. But I don't believe you need to cover up a baby eating anymore than you need to cover a baby drinking a bottle."
The vegan cookbook author argued that society has sexualized a "normal" mother-child experience.
"Our culture has a very, very bizarre relationship with breasts. Breastfeeding is not a sexual act. It's an intimate act, and that makes some people uncomfortable, but it's completely normal to have all of the human hormones that are released when you breastfeed regulating your relationship with your child."