Rumer Willis has hit back at internet users “shaming” her for her recent social media posts.
The actor, who is the daughter of Hollywood stars Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, recently sparked a mixed reaction when she shared several photos of herself breastfeeding her 1-year-old daughter, Louetta.
Rumer, who shared the pictures in honor of World Breastfeeding Week, described her breastfeeding experience as “one of the most joyful” of her life.
Rumer also drew attention to the importance of breastfeeding in her caption and encouraged her followers to “advocate for better support and resources for breastfeeding moms” and for people who “lack the necessary support and care” while breastfeeding.
Sadly, Rumer’s post was flooded with negative comments from people questioning whether her candid photos were “necessary.”
“Nothing is private anymore. Moms know , no need to post this,” one popular comment read. “Is this necessary!?!?!?” another user questioned.
Days later, Rumer caused a stir again when she shared a post promoting a sex toy.
Alongside photos of herself holding a vibrator, Rumer wrote, “In a world where women's pleasure is often overlooked, taking time for solo practice is a powerful act of self-love and discovery, which is why I’m hooking you all up with toys for international female o day!”
Rumer’s post was branded “bizarre” by users who felt the need to remind her that she’s a mom. One ridiculous comment read, “She has no talent except for this and breast feeding on Instagram,” while someone else wrote, “You are making your Daughter proud.”
Meanwhile, other users praised Rumer for her refreshing and candid post. “I love this post.. being an older woman I appreciate how well you put this,” one comment read.
Now, Rumer has addressed the backlash head-on.
Taking to her Instagram stories yesterday, Rumer shared a string of videos calling out the people who had shamed her for her recent posts.
“What I think is really interesting, that I wanted to bring up, is that a lot of the comments I was seeing [were], ‘Oh my God, you’re a mother. Don’t be showing such intimate moments. First, you’re breastfeeding, and now this,’” she began.
“We’re in a culture where it’s so frowned upon to feed our children in public, or to talk about female pleasure, talk about female sexuality. We’re literally so oppressed and suppressed around these issues,” she continued.
“Just the idea of even posting about something or having some sort of casual off-the-cuff conversation about it — the reaction is visceral from people. And I think it’s really important to have these conversations to be able to remove some of the shame around it,” she added.
Rumer went on to discuss how her mom, Demi, was super open when it came to discussing “how important” female pleasure is. But despite this, Rumer still acknowledged that the topic is “challenging” to speak about.
Rumer then said that as someone who has a daughter, she finds it “despicable” that people put “any sort of shame or taboo” around female sexual self-discovery.
“I want Lou to be able to love her body,” she said before adding that her daughter should be able to “share or not share” her body “with whoever she wants to.”
And Rumer concluded by reiterating how it is important that we stop shaming people for talking about their sexuality or breastfeeding. “I just ask that you try to refrain from hate or negativity on my page,” she said.