Beyond Health, Beyond Choice: Breastfeeding Constraints and Realities (Critical Issues in Health and Medicine)

Current public health promotion of breastfeeding relies heavily on health messaging and individual behavior change. Women are told that “breast is best” but too little serious attention is given to addressing the many social, economic, and political factors that combine to limit women’s real choice to breastfeed beyond a few days or weeks. The result: women’s, infants’, and public health interests are undermined. __Beyond Health, Beyond Choice__ examines how feminist perspectives can inform public health support for breastfeeding. Written by authors from diverse disciplines, perspectives, and countries, this collection of essays is arranged thematically and considers breastfeeding in relation to public health and health care; work and family; embodiment (specifically breastfeeding in public); economic and ethnic factors; guilt; violence; and commercialization. By examining women’s experiences and bringing feminist insights to bear on a public issue, the editors attempt to reframe the discussion to better inform public health approaches and political action. Doing so can help us recognize the value of breastfeeding for the public’s health __and__ the important productive and reproductive contributions women make to the world. Feminism and breastfeeding : rhetoric, ideology, and the material realities of women's lives / Bernice L. Hausman Breastfeeding promotion through gender equity : a theoretical perspective for public heath practice / Paige Hall Smith Breastfeeding in public health : what is needed for policy and program action? / Miriam Labbok Breastfeeding across cultures : dealing with difference / Penny Van Esterik Dangers of "baring" the breast : structural violence and formula feeding among low-income women / Nancy Chin and Ann Dozier Racism, race, and disparities in breastfeeding / Joan E. Dodgson Pediatrics, obstetrics, and shrinking maternal authority / Jacqueline H. Wolf New professions and old practices : lactation consulting and the medicalization of breastfeeding / Aimee R. Eden Preparing women to breastfeed : teaching breastfeeding in prenatal classes in the United Kingdom / Abigail Locke "Are we there yet?" : breastfeeding as a gauge of carework by mothers / Chris Mulford Breastfeeding and the gendering of infant care / Phyllis L. F. Rippeyoung and Mary C. Noonan Working out work : race, employment, and public policy / Jennifer C. Lucas and Deborah McCarter-Spaulding The impact of workplace practices on breastfeeding experiences and disparities among women / Amanda Marie Lubold and Louise Marie Roth Marketing mothers' milk : the markets for human milk / Linda C. Fentiman Empowerment or regulation? women's perspectives on expressing milk / Sally Johnson ... [et al.] Feminist breastfeeding promotion and the problem of guilt / Erin N. Taylor and Lora Ebert Wallace Breastfeeding in the margins : navigating through the conflicts of social and moral order / Danielle Groleau and Lindiwe Sibeko "Reinstating pleasure in reality" : promoting breastfeeding through ars erotica / Fiona Giles Breastfeeding and the "baby block" : using reality television to effectively promote breastfeeding / Katherine Foss Rethinking the importance of social class : how mass market magazines portray infant feeding / N. Danielle Duckett Breastfeeding in public : women's bodies, women's milk / Sally Dowling, Jennie Naidoo, and David Pontin Sexual or maternal breasts? a feminist view of contested right to breastfeed publicly / Carol Grace Hurst Intersections : child sexual abuse and breastfeeding / Emily C. Taylor. Beyond Health, Beyond Choice is a multidisciplinary collection of essays written by thirty-seven contributors that examines the role of feminist theory in the promotion of breastfeeding by public health authorities. Essays are arranged thematically and consider breastfeeding in relation to health care; work and family; embodiment (specifically breastfeeding in public); economic and ethnic factors; guilt; violence; and commercialization