Model Breastfeeds Her Son on Cover of Elle Australia

3 minute read

A cover of the June 2015 issue of Elle Australia, which is only available to subscribers, is going viral because it shows model Nicole Trunfio breastfeeding her son Zion Rain Clark. The issue also features a story about Trunfio and new motherhood, as the 29-year-old and fiancé Gary Clark, Jr., welcomed Zion to the world four months ago.

“This wasn’t a contrived situation: Zion needed a feed, Nicole gave it to him, and when we saw how beautiful they looked we simply moved her onto the set,” Elle‘s editor-in-chief Justine Cullen said on the magazine’s website.

Supportive comments started trending on social media via hashtags #normalizebreastfeeding and ‪#‎weareonlyhuman:

Others, however, think it was cowardly of Elle Australia to only make the cover available to subscribers. An example of the outraged comments on Elle Australia‘s Facebook page:

“How sad you were not brave enough to use the image of a women’s body at its most beautiful on all of your mags.”

“You’re sending an incredibly negative message about the suitability of breastfeeding in public by choosing this image as a cover, yet only making it available to subscribers (ie only women). Yes, men will surely be offended by the photo, but 1) they don’t buy your magazine and 2) THIS ATTITUDE IS WHAT WE NEED TO ELIMINATE IN SOCIETY!”

Trunfio wrote on Facebook that she is proud of the photo, taken by photographer Georges Antoni, hailing it as a “positive and healthy” statement:

There is nothing more powerful and beautiful than motherhood. The last thing I want to do is be controversial, so please take this for what it is, let us‪#‎normalizebreastfeeding‬ there is nothing worse than a mother that is judged for feeding her hungry child in public. ‪#‎weareonlyhuman‬ I’m so proud of this cover and what it stands for. I obviously don’t look like this or wear [this] while I am breastfeeding but this stands for all women out there, whether you breastfeed or not, we gave birth, we are women, we are mothers.

It is the latest magazine cover of a breastfeeding mom to go viral, from Brad Pitt’s photo of Angelina Jolie breastfeeding for the Nov. 2008 W magazine cover to a May 2012 TIME cover “Are You Mom Enough” showing a mother breastfeeding her 3-year-old son, photographed by Martin Schoeller.

Life Before Equal Pay Day: Portrait of a Working Mother in the 1950s

Jennie Magrill with her family in the background.
Jennie Magill with her family in the background.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Working mother Jennie Magill shopping with her children at the super market.
Working mother Jennie Magill shopping with her children at the super market.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jennie and Jim Magill in the kitchen.
Jennie and Jim Magill in the kitchen.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jennie Magill and family in the kitchen.
Jennie Magill and family in the kitchen.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Wifely kiss is Jim's reward for helping with the dishes.
Caption from LIFE. Wifely kiss is Jim's reward for helping with the dishes.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jennie Magill at work.
Jennie Magill at work.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Companionable lunch with the girls from store is lots better, says Jennie, than a sandwich in solitude at home. "Through Jennie's friends at work," says Jim, "I've met a lot of people I wouldn't have met otherwise."
Caption from LIFE. Companionable lunch with the girls from store is lots better, says Jennie, than a sandwich in solitude at home. "Through Jennie's friends at work," says Jim, "I've met a lot of people I wouldn't have met otherwise."Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Her work is a source of pride to Jim. "She' has done a terrific job. And when i tell her about my work she doesn't brush it off."
Caption from LIFE. Her work is a source of pride to Jim. "She' has done a terrific job. And when I tell her about my work she doesn't brush it off."Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Going home, Jim always picks Jennie up at Carson Pirie Scott branch. The ride home is a chance to talk without domestic distractions.
Caption from LIFE. Going home, Jim always picks Jennie up at Carson Pirie Scott branch. The ride home is a chance to talk without domestic distractions.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jennie and Jim Magill coming home from work.
Jennie and Jim Magill coming home from work.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Taking over the family reins when she gets home, Jennie holds Jackie, 2, who tests cake which he "helped" housekeeper Sophia Flewelling (left) to bake. Sophie runs household smoothly while parents are gone.
Caption from LIFE. Taking over the family reins when she gets home, Jennie holds Jackie, 2, who tests cake which he "helped" housekeeper Sophia Flewelling (left) to bake. Sophie runs household smoothly while parents are gone.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jennie Magill and family.
Jennie Magill and family.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jennie Magill ironing with her daughter.
Jennie Magill ironing with her daughter.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jennie Magill with her children.
Jennie Magill with her children.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jennie Magill comforting her crying daughter.
Jennie Magill comforting her crying daughter.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jennie Magill with her children.
Jennie Magill with her children.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jennie Magill reading a story to her children.
Jennie Magill reading a story to her children.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Bill-paying is disagreeable, but it reminds them of how well they live because Jennie works. "It's nice not to have that lost feeling," says Jim. "Now when we see a piece of furniture we want, we buy it."
Caption from LIFE. Bill-paying is disagreeable, but it reminds them of how well they live because Jennie works. "It's nice not to have that lost feeling," says Jim. "Now when we see a piece of furniture we want, we buy it."Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jennie Magill kisses her children goodbye.
Jennie Magill kisses her children goodbye.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com