Breastfeeding rarely conforms to the idealized Madonna-and-baby image seen in old artwork, now re-cast in celebrity breastfeeding photo spreads and pro-breastfeeding ad campaigns. The personal accounts in Others' Milk illustrate just how messy and challenging and unpredictable it can be—an uncomfortable reality in the contemporary context of high-stakes motherhood in which “successful” breastfeeding proves one's maternal mettle. Exceptional breastfeeders find creative ways to feed and care for their children—such as by inducing lactation, sharing milk, or exclusively pumping. They want to adhere to the societal ideal of giving them “the best” but sometimes have to face off with dogmatic authorities in order to do so. Kristin J. Wilson argues that while breastfeeding is never going to be the feasible choice for everyone, it should be accessible to anyone.
Author(s): Kristin J. Wilson
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 297
Tags: Breastfeeding, Breastfeeding: Social Aspects, Parenting/Child Rearing, Women’s Studies, Gender Studies, Maternity, Perinatal
Cover Page......Page 2
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright Page......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Chapter 1: Nursing Is Public......Page 10
Chapter 2: Cleavages: Negotiating Challenges......Page 51
Chapter 3: The Mother of Invention: Persisting with Exceptional Breastfeeding......Page 79
Chapter 4: Milking the System: Expressing the Politics of Breastfeeding......Page 108
Chapter 5: Busting Binaries: Embodying Otherhood and Motherhood......Page 155
Chapter 6: Fluidity of the Family: Making Kin......Page 189
Chapter 7: “Outpouring of Support”: Embodied Solidarity......Page 210
Appendix: List of Participants......Page 250
Acknowledgments......Page 256
Notes......Page 258
References......Page 270
Index......Page 284
About the Author......Page 296
