Breastfeeding, ‘tainted’ love, and femmephobia: containing the ‘dirty’ performances of embodied femininity

Abstract

In this conceptual analysis, we theorise breastfeeding as an embodied 'dirty' performance of femininity and draw on Hoskin's (2019a) work on femme theory to propose that women who breastfeed in public, who do so for an 'extended' time, and who enjoy it are subject to femmephobic attacks. We integrate three streams of literature to unsettle the 'taint' of breastfeeding. We first theorise breastfeeding as an act of femininity where women perform gender trouble in line with Butler's work. We also draw on Douglas' work on 'dirt' and Rivera's work on emotional 'dirty' work to theorise that 'taint' is one way in which society stigmatises the phenomenon of breastfeeding. Specifically, we propose that embodied breastfeeding evokes 'tainted' emotions. We then draw on Schippers' work on 'containing' pariah forms of femininity (lest they 'contaminate' patriarchy) by showing how femmephobic stigmatisation limits breastfeeding women's corporeality and presence in shared spaces.

Motherhood and guilt in a pandemic: Negotiating the “new” normal with a feminist identity

“…Indeed, women are constantly bombarded with patriarchal social norms to achieve the “‘right' form of hyper‐sexual femininity” (Bailey et al., 2015, p. 747). This constant push–pull ebb and flow of conflicting narratives imposed on women's lives is endemic throughout patriarchal society, for instance, the binary positioning of women as either compliant virgins or pariah sluts (e.g., Darwin, 2017; Schippers, 2007), as either needing protection from good men or preying on these same good men (e.g., Bay‐Cheng, Bruns, & Maguin, 2018; Schemenauer, 2012), or even the public health discourse glorifying breast milk but the societal stigmatization of breast feeding (Whiley, Stutterheim, & Grandy, 2020). These crude dichotomizations reinforce patriarchy and confine women's personhoods to rigid social norms: good or bad (Bareket, Kahalon, Shnabel, & Glick, 2018).…”

“A part of being a woman, really”: Menopause at work as “dirty” femininity

“…Women experiencing menopause at work are abjected and out of place. This research builds upon the nascent body of work in MOS on menopause at work and extends the extant literature on femme theory (Hoskin, 2017(Hoskin, , 2021, femmephobia (Hoskin, 2019), and breastfeeding as "dirty" femininity (Whiley et al, 2022) to theorize menopause as a type of "dirty" femininity and femme performance. In doing this, both the stigmatizing effects of menopause at work and the opportunity to reclaim femininity in-and-for itself are illuminated.…”

“…For example, we note how menopause is subject to femmephobia via excessive pathologizing, and reveal how women engage in containment strategies (e.g., Hoskin, 2019) by reeling in their "dirty" emotions and masking their aging feminine bodies. Moreover, Hoskin (2021) puts forward femme theory as theory that defies "heteronormative assumptions, oppressive rules governing femininity" (p. 4), and Whiley et al (2022) proposed that women performing "dirty" femininity in-and-for-itself are performing femme. So too, we observed examples of this in participants' accounts, albeit much more tentatively than the normative pressures to conform.…”

“…Further, if women are not feminine in precisely the right embodied kind of way “to establish and legitimate a hierarchical and complementary relationship with hegemonic masculinity”, then they threaten “the dominant position of men and the subordination of women” (Schippers, 2007, p. 94). Hegemonic femininity is femininity that is equated with attractiveness to the male gaze and sexual availability (Whiley et al., 2022), and, by extension, fertility—that is, the feminine body is positioned as a “material object, to be observed, judged, valued, appreciated, rejected, modified and essentially commodified” (Ponterotto, 2016, p. 134). Aging, especially as a woman, is stigmatizing (Chrisler, 2007; de Salis et al., 2018).…”

Determinants of Breastfeeding Practices Among Mothers Attending Maternal and Child Health Clinic at Pumwani Hospital Nairobi

“…Convenience is inherently linked to the embarrassment of breastfeeding in public. In the Canadian study, women suggest that it is more convenient to formulafeed their infants because it is unnecessary to go to a private room or cover up when feeding in public (Whiley et al, 2020).…”