Model Mara Martin breastfeeds her baby while walking the runway

The annual Paraiso Fashion Fair, conducted by Sports Illustrated magazine, saw model Mara Martin breastfed her five-month-old infant daughter as she walked on the ramp. Martin was a part of the 16 finalists who had been shortlisted for the show that was a part of the Miami fashion week.[caption id="attachment_4773581" align="alignnone" width="825"]

Mara Martin. Instagram/@_maramartin_[/caption]The baby, Aria, was made to wear a pair of headphones to shield her ears from the loud music and cheers from the passionate audience members who zealously admired Mara's stance, reports ABC News.MJ Day, editor of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue told Today that the idea germinated from seeing Mara nursing her baby. "I was like, 'Do you just want to nurse while you walk down the runway?' And she was like, 'I would love to do that.'" she said.On 17 July, Mara posted on Instagram saying that breastfeeding was nothing headline-worthy and that she intends to normalise an action that she does on a daily basis.

Mara Martin's runway strut divided the social media into two factions, where one camp applauded her with ''bravo'' and ''amazing'', advocating normalising acts such as breastfeeding in public whereas the other was outraged, questioning the motive behind her action.  There was an outpour of tweets supporting Mara Martin: Brooklyn Decker, a model who has appeared in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, extended her support towards Martin on Twitter: However, there were others who were dissatisfied with the stance that the model had taken: The show also featured Brenna Huckaby, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist snowboarder and Allyn Rose, a model who recently underwent a double mastectomy. Furthermore Christie Brinkley at the age of 63 made an appearance at an issue last year, and this year in February, the magazine addressed the #MeToo movement with models donning empowering words on their bodies, a report by CBS News said.