Mother's Milk : Breastfeeding Controversies in American Culture

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Mother's Milk examines why nursing a baby is an ideologically charged experience in contemporary culture. Drawing upon medical studies, feminist scholarship, anthropological literature, and an intimate knowledge of breastfeeding itself, Bernice Hausman demonstrates what is at stake in mothers' infant feeding choices—economically, socially, and in terms of women's rights. Breastfeeding controversies, she argues, reveal social tensions around the meaning of women's bodies, the authority of science, and the value of maternity in American culture. A provocative and multi-faceted work, Mother's Milk will be of interest to anyone concerned with the politics of women's embodiment.

Mother's Milk examines why nursing a baby is an ideologically charged experience in contemporary culture. Drawing upon medical studies, feminist scholarship, anthropological literature, and an intimate knowledge of breastfeeding itself, Bernice Hausman demonstrates what is at stake in mothers' infant feeding choices—economically, socially, and in terms of women's rights. Breastfeeding controversies, she argues, reveal social tensions around the meaning of women's bodies, the authority of science, and the value of maternity in American culture. A provocative and multi-faceted work, Mother's Milk will be of interest to anyone concerned with the politics of women's embodiment. This book examines how and why nursing a baby--the breast or bottle debate--has become such a complex experience in contemporary culture. By looking at medical, popular, and scholarly materials, the author demonstrates how much is at stake in this ongoing debate--economically, socially, and in terms of women's rights. (Midwest) This study examines how nursing a baby - the breast or bottle debate - has become such a complex experience in contemporary culture. By looking at medical, popular and scholarly materials, it demonstrates what is at stake in this debate - economically, socially and in terms of women's rights. Tabitha Warlond, nineteen years old, African American, and a single mother living with her mother (both of whom were on public assistance) was convicted of negligently causing the death of her seven-week-old son Tyler, who died of starvation in august 1997.