Online breastfeeding publics: Sociality, support and selfies

Abstract

This article focuses on the practice of breastfeeding selfies, as a relational practice within online breastfeeding groups. I suggest that despite breastfeeding being upheld as the most superior infant feeding method, the practice has a paradoxical relationship to discourses of the “good mother” and the idealisation of motherhood more generally. This is due to the unashamed boldness of the practice, which flies in the face of notions of discretion, with their subsequent links to respectability. Breastfeeding selfies can be understood as gestures for something outside of the mother-infant dyad, therefore insisting on recognising the desire, needs and sociality of the mother. Furthermore, they move to position breastfeeding as a social, rather than an individual or solitary act. The desire for women to share their mothering experiences with other women challenges the individualising notion of the exclusive mother and, furthermore, can be understood as an invitation for intimacy with other women. Whilst the practice has the potential to be interpreted in a way which challenges much of the pernicious “good mother” discourses, it continues to be a practice marked in Whiteness, revealing the inequitable nature of online public spaces.

Online Mothering: The Empowering Nature of a Hashtag Movement Founded on Social Sharing and Stereotype Deconstruction

“…The great potential of breastfeeding on child development is widely acknowledged both for the compositional superiority of breast milk over formula milk and the mother-child interaction, connection of skin-to-skin contact, and the related promotion of secure attachment [35]. As a consequence, mothers feel fulfilled through breastfeeding [36].…”

“…The coding process started with a thorough review of the literature on topics such as online activism and its different levels of engagement and agency [59,67], the functional significance of discrete emotions in facing challenging environments and events [68][69][70], and the perceptions about traditional mothering expectations such as intensive mothering [14], selflessness, and breastfeeding [36].…”

“…Deconstruction of stereotypes: Analyzes the absence or presence (dichotomous response) of opinions contrasting with the traditional ideal and expectations of motherhood, especially in terms of 'intensive mothering' [36], forced selflessness, and breastfeeding as the only way to be a 'good mother'.…”

Digital families: Gendered relationships in online spaces

“…We begin with a paper from Sharon Tugwell (2022, pp. 318–335), examining breastfeeding selfies, also called “brelfies”, where mothers post images of themselves online whilst breastfeeding.…”