Ashley James has opened up about the trolling she receives for posting breastfeeding photos online.
The former Made In Chelsea star, 36, is mother to son Alf, three, and daughter Ada, ten months.
She shared her breastfeeding journey with both children on social media, but admitted that she has faced a lot of negativity and being called an “attention seeker.”
However, Ashley wants to normalize nursing, insisting that “it’s not a sexual issue” and saying that “if people want to judge, then they are the problem.”
speaking to Fabulous for the new YouTube series Shamed, said: ‘I promise you, no one with big tits is trying to get attention. We just want to exist in the body we have.’
Ashley James has opened up about the trolling she receives for posting breastfeeding photos online.
The former Made In Chelsea star, 36, shared her breastfeeding journey with her son Alf, three, and daughter Ada, ten months, on social media – but faced plenty of negative comments.
However, Ashley wants to normalize nursing, insisting that “it’s not a sexual issue” and saying that “if people want to judge, then they are the problem.”
She said she gets a lot of comments, particularly from other mothers, telling her to “leave them aside.”
Ashley said: “I’ve had that my whole life, ever since I got breasts.” Why do I have to cover my body? It’s policing women, but also telling a woman that, based on her body type, her body is too sexual to be shown.’
She is also the subject of sexual comments from men, who say: “I always get weird guys in my DMs wanting to see my tits, with comments like ‘beautiful fun bags.’” It’s just disgusting.
“I think social media should try to do more to control it and women should not be exposed to this type of sexual abuse.”
Ashley said she has been embarrassed by her chest since she developed size 30GG breasts at age 13, and it has impacted her to this day.
She said: ‘A lot of my problems arose when I grew breasts. I quickly went from having none to being a size 30GG. “It was very difficult because there was a lot of sexualization and shame.”
She explained that she faced sexual comments from boys and men, and teachers told her to hide, making her feel like it was her fault.
Ashley said: ‘For me, as a child, there was a lot of confusion. They told me that if I wanted to be taken seriously she had to dress me a certain way and I didn’t understand why.
Ashley said she has been embarrassed by her chest since she developed size 30GG breasts at age 13, and it has impacted her to this day.
She explained that she faced sexual comments from boys and men, and teachers told her to cover up, making her feel like it was her fault.
‘I guess the teachers were trying to protect me, but it taught me that my body was something to be ashamed of. The boys made sexual comments about my body, but I was the one to blame.’
As a result, Ashley still worries about her clothing, afraid that people will think she is promiscuous because of the size of her breasts.
She said: “Every time I change, even now in my thirties, I always think, ‘Is this too much?’ Do I look like a slut? Does it look like I’m trying to get attention?” That’s what’s really frustrating.”
She was previously so upset by the size of her breast that she considered a breast reduction when she was just 15 years old.
She said: ‘I went to see the GP with my mother. Fortunately I didn’t continue. “I’m very happy about that because my body was never the problem.”
She insisted: “The problem is society’s hypersexualization of the female body, specifically the breasts.”
Ashley added: ‘I don’t think I’ll ever say, ‘I love having big boobs.’ But this is my body. This is how it’s done.’
As a result, Ashley still worries about her clothing, fearful that people will think she is promiscuous because of the size of her breasts (pictured this week).