The emotional resonances of breastfeeding in public: The role of strangers in breastfeeding practice

Boyer, Kate

doi:10.1016/j.emospa.2016.09.002

Cited by 50 publications

(62 citation statements)

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“…Whilst there are key aspects to breastfeeding that typically vary across women from different communities, a common concern for most women is managing breastfeeding in the public sphere (Grant, 2016;Boyer 2018). Research shows how many British women experience concerns over breastfeeding their infants in public despite legislation, introduced in the 2010 Equality Act, (Government Equalities Office, 2013) which aims to protect breastfeeding mothers from discrimination.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why aren't you stopping now?!’ Exploring accounts of white women breastfeeding beyond six months in the East of England

Newman

Williamson

2018

Appetite

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Breastfeeding infants for a period of two years is endorsed by international health agencies such as the World Health Organisation. However, discourses of breastfeeding in a British context are complex and contradictory, juxtaposing representations of breastfeeding as healthy and a moral obligation for mothers with views of the act as unseemly and an expectation that nursing women practice 'socially sensitive lactation' especially in public spaces. Sustained breastfeeding rates in the UK are poor and most British women discontinue breastfeeding well before six months. Mothers who elect to feed their infants at the breast for longer than these normative periods appear to experience suspicion and disapproval, especially in a public context and breastfeeding women are only legally protected in feeding their infants in public for up to six months. Although breastfeeding research is flourishing, research on this particular population of mothers remains relatively limited. Therefore, in this study, we explore in-depth experiential accounts of eight women, resident in a town in the East of England, who breastfed their infants beyond six months. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis four themes are presented. Really horrible looks': stigma from families and the community', 'Feeling quite exposed': managing extended breastfeeding etiquette', 'Weird freaky paedophiles': representations of extended breastfeeding women in the media' and 'You really need that': the importance of support for longer-term breastfeeding women'. Applications to extended breastfeeding promotion and advocacy are discussed.

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Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why aren't you stopping now?!’ Exploring accounts of white women breastfeeding beyond six months in the East of England

Newman

Williamson

2018

Appetite

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“…The duration rates for the United Kingdom are extremely low compared to other highincome countries with only 1% of women breastfeeding exclusively for the first 6 months (see Boyer, 2016;Grant, 2016;Newell, 2013). The duration rate for the United States for exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months is 19% (Boyer, 2016). 3.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper, I explore the transformative potential to shift the meaning of urban elements through the embodied practice of breastfeeding, to shift the culture of feeding. In part this emphasis responds to Boyer's (2016) call to expand work on the 'micro-politics of how physical spaces interfere with affects to produce welcoming (and non-welcoming) environments in the context of breastfeeding' (p. 4), including appropriate seating, lighting and temperature controls. It is precisely the lack of suitable resting sites that led me to utilize the urban hardware of my urban public spaces differently (for example, by making use of steps, edges, walls as sites and surfaces).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The complexity of breastfeeding, especially as it pertains to the body in public space, is a dynamic area of research in geography. Boyer's (2011Boyer's ( , 2012Boyer's ( , 2016 foundational work linking breastfeeding, health policy and public space in the UK highlights the intricacies of this form of care. For Boyer, there is a link between the experience and perception of breastfeeding and breastfeeding duration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For Boyer, there is a link between the experience and perception of breastfeeding and breastfeeding duration. At present, the weight of negative resonances (or the potential for them) to breastfeeding mothers manifests in shorter duration rates and hidden practices (Boyer, 2016). Interestingly, attitudes towards breastfeeding appear to be affected more by cultural context (discourses and experiences) than by policy directives or medical expertise (Pain, Bailey, & Mowl, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reconfiguring the breastfeeding body in urban public spaces

Mathews

2018

Social & Cultural Geography

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The breastfeeding body is subject to overt and subversive forms of regulation and control in contemporary society, where it is sexualized and naturalized, rendered both visible and invisible, revered and found disruptive. Despite health policy espousing the benefits of breastfeeding for mother and child, duration rates in Canada remain relatively low. In this paper, I explore the spatial practices of the breastfeeding body in public, using feminist work on the body and theorizations of built form, urban space and embodied practice. Drawing on a series of feminist autoethnographic vignettes, I write my breastfeeding body into a diversity of routine urban spaces-a car, grocery store, mall, bookstore, highway, alleyway-and narrate my experiences negotiating social responses and spatial arrangements. I argue that the breastfeeding body challenges normative understandings of gender, motherhood and sexuality through its participation and presence in public space. The breastfeeding body transgresses the meaning of space and the performance of identity as it claims space for private use. Réaménager le corps qui allaite au sein dans les lieux publics urbains RÉSUMÉ Le corps qui allaite fait l'objet de formes évidentes et subversives de régulation et de contrôle dans notre société contemporaine où il est sexualisé et naturalisé, rendu à la fois visible et invisible, révéré et considéré comme dérangeant. Malgré la politique de santé qui s'aligne sur les avantages de l'allaitement au sein pour la mère et l'enfant, les taux de durée au Canada restent relativement bas. Dans cet article, j'explore les pratiques spatiales du corps qui allaite en public, en utilisant la recherche féministe sur le corps et les théorisations de la forme construite, de l'espace urbain et de la pratique incarnée. En m'appuyant sur une série de vignettes auto-ethnographiques féministes, j'inscris mon corps qui allaite dans une diversité d'espaces urbains routiniers-une voiture, un magasin d'alimentation, un centre commercial, une librairie, une autoroute, une allée-et je raconte mes expériences de négociations de réponses sociales et d'aménagements spatiaux. Je soutiens que le corps qui allaite met au défi les vues normatives du genre, de la maternité et de la sexualité à travers sa participation et présence dans l'espace public. Le corps qui allaite transgresse la signification de l'espace et la performance de l'identité en revendiquant l'espace dans un objectif privé.

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Evolutionary biological perspectives on current social issues of breastfeeding and weaning

Tsutaya

Mizushima

2023

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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Breastfeeding and weaning are actively studied from evolutionary, medical, and social research perspectives because of their close association with infant mortality, lifetime health, and human population dynamics. Each discipline benefits from an interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge regarding the bases, processes, and consequences of these phenomena. However, current social issues related to breastfeeding and weaning have received little attention from an evolutionary biology perspective. We address this gap by reviewing current social issues related to human breastfeeding and weaning in an evolutionary framework. This approach helps build a conceptual framework with the goal of better understanding ultimate causes of or influences on these current social issues. The six social issues reviewed here fall into three categories: the spatiotemporal constraints of breastfeeding, abuse of breast milk as valuable material, and mismatch in breastfeeding practices. Some of these issues have an evolutionary basis. We analyze the structure of these social issues and discuss their possible solutions in terms of extension of the trade‐off theory in evolutionary biology. Our discussion on the current social issues in breastfeeding and weaning highlights the effectiveness of an approach rooted in evolutionary theory and biological anthropology.

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The emotional resonances of breastfeeding in public: The role of strangers in breastfeeding practice

Cited by 50 publications

References 40 publications

Why aren't you stopping now?!’ Exploring accounts of white women breastfeeding beyond six months in the East of England

Why aren't you stopping now?!’ Exploring accounts of white women breastfeeding beyond six months in the East of England

Reconfiguring the breastfeeding body in urban public spaces

Evolutionary biological perspectives on current social issues of breastfeeding and weaning

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