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Is breastfeeding a feminist issue?

Abstract:

Mutually exclusive or mutually supportive? What does feminism say about breastfeeding and what is the relationship between the two? Both may evoke intensely personal and emotive responses. It is interesting how certain viewpoints are almost automatically attributed to anyone who is identified as a feminist, or as a breastfeeding advocate. Feminists are not an homogeneous group; neither are breastfeeding women. Breastfeeding involves more than just the right information and help. Maher (1992) believes that the type of infant feeding women choose, and whether they 'succeed' or 'fail' at breastfeeding, is embedded in socioeconomic and gender inequalities in any given society. These dimensions can have as significant an impact on the incidence, exclusivity and duration of breastfeeding as physiological factors. There are women for whom the ultimate barrier to breastfeeding is not sore nipples, supply problems, night feeds or work outside the home - it is the disapproval and constraints encountered from within society. This also includes the tensions and so-called 'horizontal violence' sometimes occurring between women (such as 'earth mothers' vs 'career women'; 'breastfeeding women' vs 'bottle feeding women'; 'mothers' vs 'non-mothers', and so on). This discussion is not so much about rearguing the case for breastfeeding. It is an endeavour to integrate feminist thinking about the position of breastfeeding women in society.

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breastfeeding, feminism