Jump onto any publication's homepage right now (including ours), and you'll see commentary about Arj Barker asking a breastfeeding mother to leave his comedy show over the weekend.
The comedian is currently performing at Melbourne's Comedy Festival, and the incident - which involved Barker publically asking her to leave in front of a live audience - is being dissected by commentators up and down the country.
Trish Faranda was sitting at the end of the fourth row during the performance, with baby Clara. According to Trish, Clara wasn't crying, just fussing and cooing and talking — as seven-month-olds do.
Watch: Trish on The Project. Post continues after video.
There's two distinctive camps pulling apart this story. The 'stop shaming mums' camp which insists 'babes in arms' should be allowed wherever women are, and the 'a comedy show is no place for a baby' camp.
I was a breastfeeding mum whose baby refused to be at home with his dad and a bottle just a few months ago. Anywhere I went, my son had to come too. But what is frustrating me about this coverage is the lack of nuance that happens when a story like this makes national headlines. The experience is flattened into statements like 'Mum speaks out after being thrown out of Arj Barker's comedy show' and 'Comedian Arj Barker responds to 'humiliated' mother.'
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