What Feminists Can Do for Breastfeeding and What Breastfeeding Can Do for Feminists

Wolf, Jacqueline H.

doi:10.1086/497279

Cited by 44 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Healthy skepticism may make the reader question the sincerity of the formula manufacturers’ concern for mothers’ feelings; certainly, the primary goals of pharmaceutical companies do not include “alleviating maternal guilt.” Still, this argument about guilt remains persuasive to those who are disturbed by the idea that mothers are being browbeaten, including many breastfeeding advocates who struggle to reconcile their advocacy with their reluctance to emotionally coerce women. Thus, while many breastfeeding advocates and scholars implicitly assume or explicitly insist that the guilt argument is a self‐interested rhetorical ploy on the part of formula manufacturers (see, for example Slaw ; Newman ; Wolf ; Wight ; Hausman ), they also seek to find a way for breastfeeding advocacy to deal, theoretically or practically, with the issue of maternal guilt. Some of these advocates respond by attempting to redefine the emotion that formula‐feeding mothers may describe as guilt, labeling it instead as anger, regret, or a sense of being cheated by a medical system or society that fails to adequately educate or support breastfeeding mothers.…”

Section: Formula‐feeding and Guiltmentioning

confidence: 99%

For Shame: Feminism, Breastfeeding Advocacy, and Maternal Guilt

Taylor¹,

Wallace²

2012

Hypatia

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In this paper, we provide a new framework for understanding infant‐feeding‐related maternal guilt and shame, placing these in the context of feminist theoretical and psychological accounts of the emotions of self‐assessment. Whereas breastfeeding advocacy has been critiqued for its perceived role in inducing maternal guilt, we argue that the emotion women often feel surrounding infant feeding may be better conceptualized as shame in its tendency to involve a negative self‐assessment—a failure to achieve an idealized notion of good motherhood. Further, we suggest, both formula‐feeding and breastfeeding mothers experience shame: the former report feeling that they fail to live up to ideals of womanhood and motherhood, and the latter transgress cultural expectations regarding feminine modesty. The problem, then, is the degree to which mothers are vulnerable to shame generally, regardless of infant feeding practices. As an emotion that is less adaptive and potentially more damaging than guilt, shame ought to be the focus of resistance for both feminists and breastfeeding advocates, who need to work in conjunction with women to oppose this shame by assisting them in constructing their own ideals of good motherhood that incorporate a sense of self‐concern.

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Section: Formula‐feeding and Guiltmentioning

confidence: 99%

For Shame: Feminism, Breastfeeding Advocacy, and Maternal Guilt

Taylor¹,

Wallace²

2012

Hypatia

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“…Empirical evidence reveals positive associations between maternal autonomy and breastfeeding (Cox & Turnbull, ; Shroff et al., ). Maternal decisions to discontinue or continue breastfeeding (with or without feeding substitutes) are noted to be mostly dependent on the attributes and antecedents of maternal autonomy in the context of breastfeeding, as discussed earlier (Dangal & Bhandari, ; Wolf, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Availability of support enables lactating mothers to achieve their breastfeeding‐related goals (Cox & Turnbull, ; Labbok, ). Support may be offered by healthcare professionals, peer counsellors, family members, neighbors, friends, employers, and colleagues and can facilitate maternal autonomy regarding breastfeeding (Boyd, ; Cox & Turnbull, ; Fineman, ; Friedman, ; Raj & Plichta, ; Reece, ; Sullivan & Douglas, ; Wolf, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concept Analysis of Maternal Autonomy in the Context of Breastfeeding

Hirani

Olson

2016

J of Nursing Scholarship

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“…Though there are differences in feminist analyses of infant feeding, and debates amongst both feminist scholars and activists (see Kelleher, 2006;McCarterSpaulding, 2008;Wolf, 2006), a key contribution, from those working within a poststructuralist framework (see, for example, Bartlett, 2005;Carter, 1995;Dykes, 2006) has been to highlight a number of historically located and contradictory socio-cultural constructions and practices with which women are faced when negotiating infant feeding within contemporary western contexts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expressing yourself: A feminist analysis of talk around expressing breast milk

Johnson

Williamson

Lyttle

et al. 2009

Social Science & Medicine

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Recent feminist analyses, particularly from those working within a poststructuralist framework, have highlighted a number of historically located and contradictory socio-cultural constructions and practices which women are faced with when negotiating infant feeding, especially breastfeeding, within contemporary western contexts. However, there has been little explicit analysis of the practice of expressing breast milk. The aim of this article is to explore the embodied practice of expressing breast milk. This is done by analysing, from a feminist poststructuralist perspective, discourse surrounding expressing breast milk in sixteen first time mothers' accounts of early infant feeding. Participants were recruited from a hospital in the South Midlands of England. The data are drawn from the first phase of a larger longitudinal study, during which mothers kept an audio diary about their breastfeeding experiences for seven days following discharge from hospital, and then took part in a follow-up interview. Key themes identified are expressing breast milk as (i) a way of managing pain whilst still feeding breast milk; (ii) a solution to the inefficiencies of the maternal body; (iii) enhancing or disrupting the 'bonding process'; (iv) a way of managing feeding in public; and (v) a way to negotiate some independence and manage the demands of breastfeeding. Links between these and broader historical and socio-cultural constructions and practices are discussed. This analysis expands current feminist theorising around how women actively create the 'good maternal 2 body'. As constructed by the participants, expressing breast milk appears to be largely a way of aligning subjectivity with cultural ideologies of motherhood.Moreover, breastfeeding discourses and practices available to mothers are not limitless and processes of power restrict the possibilities for women in relation to infant feeding.

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What Feminists Can Do for Breastfeeding and What Breastfeeding Can Do for Feminists

Cited by 44 publications

References 44 publications

For Shame: Feminism, Breastfeeding Advocacy, and Maternal Guilt

For Shame: Feminism, Breastfeeding Advocacy, and Maternal Guilt

Concept Analysis of Maternal Autonomy in the Context of Breastfeeding

Expressing yourself: A feminist analysis of talk around expressing breast milk

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