forbidden word: chestfeed + person

chestfeed v. the process of feeding a child human milk from a person’s chest. It’s is a term that can be used by anyone, but often is used by transgender and nonbinary people for whom the words breastfeeding or nursing are not an ideal fit.

from – Cnm, D. S. (2021, December 14). What is chestfeeding? (And why it’s so important). Motherly

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person n. There will be twelve persons at our table:  individual, human being, human, being, mortal, living soul, soul, living body, body.
◊ Usage Note: In strict usage, people, is used in referring to an indefinite number of individuals and persons where a precise number is specified. Thus, The auditorium seats hundreds of people, but Capacity of the restaurant is limited to 47 persons.
◊ Word origin: Person comes from Latin persona, an actor’s mask or character, an assumed personality. We still use the Latin persona to mean a character in a play, and psychologists still use it to mean a personality assumed by an individual for psychological concealment or defense.

from – Family Word Finder: Reader’s Digest. The Reader’s Digest Association, 1975.

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example sentences: chestfeed + person

Here are a few examples of people who may choose to chestfeed:

• A transgender man may choose to use the term chestfeeding if they had surgery to remove breast tissue, known as a ‘chest masculinization surgery,’ ‘top surgery’ or ‘male chest-contouring surgery.’ A small study done in 2017 found that this was the most frequently cited reason for preferring the term chestfeeding.
• A non-binary person (someone who does not identify as having a particular gender) may not be comfortable using the terms breastfeeding or nursing as these have historically been thought of as “female” acts. Chestfeeding is a neutral term that may feel more comfortable.
• A cisgender woman (a person whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth) may have experienced breast-related trauma and feels better using a more neutral term (especially given the hyper-sexualization of breasts in our society).

These are just a few of the many possible reasons that someone may prefer to use the term chestfeeding. While ultimately it’s not anyone’s business but the person who chooses to feed their child by chestfeeding, it’s important for all of us to better understand people’s stories so we can increase our empathy and decrease our judgment.

from – Cnm, D. S. (2021, December 14). What is chestfeeding? (And why it’s so important). Motherly

April 14, 2025
Hudson Valley, New York

This is one of the words / combination of words you can’t say in the new Trump Administration. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.

image: republican agenda small town message © Holly Troy 2025