Breastfeeding and sexual difference: Queering Irigaray

Abstract

It is commonly assumed that only women, and in particular women who have recently given birth, are able to breastfeed. However, through induced lactation, adoptive mothers, fathers and trans people have begun breastfeeding with greater frequency. Although breastfeeding is often regarded as a paradigmatic example of sexual difference, it actually exposes the instability of binary categories of sex. Luce Irigaray insists that sexual difference demands a new poetics, a language that is dynamic and fluid, capable of expressing difference while always keeping open the possibility of transformation and change. This article extends Irigaray's work in order to theorise breastfeeding from a perspective that is both feminist and queer.

Queer parents, gendered embodiment and the de-essentialisation of motherhood

“…Does their specific embodiment -how they are 'read' or '(mis)recognized' by others (Pfeffer, 2014) -affect how their parenting is perceived? What role does reproductive capacity play, such as in cases where transgender men carry, give birth to and/or chest-feed their children (Walks, 2017;Lee, 2018), experiences that '[encourage] us to rethink the legal and social definitions of what it means to be a father' (Ryan, 2009: 139)? How do genderqueer and non-binary parents experience their parenting in relation to the binary terms 'mother' and 'father'?…”

Medication and Facilitation of Transgender Women’s Lactation

“…Wolfe-Roubatis and Spatz (2015) wrote that nurses need to expand their knowledge and cultivate openness to provide optimal support to transgender men for breastfeeding/chestfeeding; this extends to all healthcare providers, peer support, and family and friend networks. Lee (2018) wrote, "Although lactation operates as a cultural signifier of both sexual difference and maternity, then, strictly speaking it is not necessarily tied to either" (p. 78). Indeed, as she described, grandmothers, adoptive parents, transgender people, and men can all be supported to lactate (Lee, 2018).…”

“…Lee (2018) wrote, "Although lactation operates as a cultural signifier of both sexual difference and maternity, then, strictly speaking it is not necessarily tied to either" (p. 78). Indeed, as she described, grandmothers, adoptive parents, transgender people, and men can all be supported to lactate (Lee, 2018). Human milk is a smart and forgiving food, the mammary glands are exceptional filters, and breastfeeding/ chestfeeding promotes emotional connection in a way consuming no other nutrient can.…”

Useless bodies? Exploring the ethical potential of art

“…The title Useless bodies? challenges the notion of what constitutes a ‘useful body’ in contemporary society, a concern that has recently gained attention in organization studies, where researchers have started to question the relationship between bodies and organizing, with a focus on how some workers' bodies are deemed more valuable than others (Ashraf et al., 2020; Bryant & Jaworski, 2011; Gatrell, 2019; Huopalainen & Satama, 2019; Jack et al., 2019; Johansson et al., 2017; Lee, 2018; Mavin & Grandy, 2016; Tyler & Cohen, 2010).…”

“…are deemed more valuable than others (Ashraf et al, 2020;Bryant & Jaworski, 2011;Gatrell, 2019;Huopalainen & Satama, 2019;Jack et al, 2019;Johansson et al, 2017;Lee, 2018;Mavin & Grandy, 2016;Tyler & Cohen, 2010).…”