At the Breast: Ideologies of Breastfeeding and Motherhood in the Contemporary United States

by Linda M. Blum

In our ironic, "postfeminist" age few experiences inspire the kind of passions that breastfeeding does. For advocates, breastfeeding is both the only way to supply babies with proper nutrition and the "bond" that cements the mother/child relationship. Mother's milk remains "natural" in a world of genetically modified produce and corporate health care. But is it a realistic option for all women? And can a well-intentioned insistence on the necessity of breastfeeding become just another way to cast some women as bad mothers?

Linda M. Blum is author of Between Feminism and The Significance of the Comparable Worth Movement . She teaches sociology and women's studies at the University of New Hampshire, and wrote this book while a Bunting Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, History, Health

296 pages, Paperback

First published April 27, 1999

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

sometimes i think i'm one of those most cranky, curmudgeonly people on the planet, taking issue with the minutiae of pop culture that other people apparently take in stride and figure i ought to be sent to my own private island but then, but then!!, i come across a book like this which validates my sometimes over-thinking and says yes, question, question, question away! seriously this is one of the most profound books i have read, ever, talking about a topic you really can't talk about in a serious logical kind of way these days: breastfeeding. i'd recommend it for anyone with kids, anyone who might have kids, anyone who is female, anyone who has boobs, anyone who knows someone who is female and has boobs. the way the writer explores the intersection of gender, class and ethnicity in the way we define what is "natural" and a cultural and personal imperative is so brilliant it made me want to cry. read this book! it is recommended by katha pollitt, who i worship, and in many instances cites rutgers historian, janet golden. so that's fun.

[Alexis Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard nosed feminist look at the history of breastfeeding, and the power relations in race, class, and gender. Love it, love it, though don't agree with all her arguments. She really nails the idea of the disembodiment of motherhood, and offers an interesting history of La Leche League.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just bought this...excited to read it next...
Hmmm. This book was a valuable read. Even with all of the idiosyncrasies it held. I think she definitely wrote it from her own place of bias and privilege and rather than address her own thoughts around breastfeeding, she made assumptions about others' thoughts. I do not agree with all of her conclusions regarding economic pressures and her solutions, but it was a good treatise for me to examine my own beliefs and if I am truly meeting mothers where they are to provide support and help rather than dragging them to my side of the table. Breastfeeding in our culture(s) is much more nuanced and easily influenced than most people think. Not only dies it have sexual connotations in our culture, but also postfeminism, public health, and the age old oppression all built into one action that we as mothers do. It is definitely not as simple as "feeding your baby" as much as I would like it to be.

While this wasn't one of my favorite breastfeeding books, it was one that I needed to read. I wish someone would revisit this topic now in 2015, so that we had a little more updated thoughts on privilege and community breastfeeding support as there are now several burgeoning organizations to meet both needs. While I did not agree with her solutions, I believe that with collective minds, we *can* improve the current state of breastfeeding in this country.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a culture where breast feeding is almost universally touted as the cure for everything from low IQs to allergies to breast cancer, Linda Blum provides a much needed critical voice into the discussion of breast feeding in the United States. She begins by placing the current public health campaign to increase breast feeding in the United States within a historical context that has seen a variety of infant feeding practices receive medical endorsement. Unlike most of the literature on breastfeeding, which centers around the infant, At the Breast focuses on breast feeding from women's points of view. While she does not contest the validity of medical research that demonstrates health benefits of breast feeding, she locates that research within raced, gendered, and classed ideologies. Blum did research with the mostly white middle class mothers of Le Leche League who have been a driving force behind the breast feeding movement, with white working class mothers who generally wish to breast feed their babies but are often unable to do so due to a lack of support, and with working class African American Women who tend to reject breast feeding in favor of infant feeding strategies that are more compatible with the networks of female support women draw around themselves.

At the Breast is a vitally important book because it counters the prevailing belief that women who choose not to breast feed their babies simply aren't educated about breast feeding's benefits. Instead, women make decisions about how to feed their babies based on a number of factors. While breast feeding advocates will present breast feeding as a perfect solution--free, convenient, and healthy--Blum acknowledges the experiences of the women she interviewed that demonstrate that for women who cannot or choose not to live up to the ideal of the exclusive mother, the formula (provided free with WIC)that one's mother, friend, or partner can feed the baby is a much more convenient and liberating choice.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book investigates the history of breastfeeding in the United States, with a special focus on the emergence and continuance of the La Leche League, and provides an interesting discussion about infant-feeding among white working-class mothers as well as African-American working-class mothers. I found this book to be very thought-provoking, as Blum reveals the "deeply embedded social problems" that are largely ignored by public health frameworks in their efforts to increase breastfeeding rates in the US; for public health efforts "to educate and persuade" are largely fruitless if mothers do not have access to time, space, and privacy to breastfeed. I am left with mixed feelings and much to ponder after reading this book--I am a huge breastfeeding advocate, yet I feel as though I no longer know what is "best" for mothers and babies. Perhaps it is, as Blum concludes, for women "to gain interpretive power over our embodied experiences, to define our own embodied wants and desires" and to enjoy "greater genuine freedom in infant-feeding choices" (200-1). While this is good and well (I certainly want empowerment for women), I'm not so certain that the benefits of breastfeeding should be downplayed quite so much.

[saizine · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I don’t agree with some of Blum’s central assertions (namely that breastfeeding is pushed by medical professionals — if anything, it’s the opposite, and there is no examination of why breastfeeding doesn’t tend to warrant substantial training), this is a very good overview of breastfeeding ideologies of the United States across the past century with (and this is the key!) close attention paid to marginalized groups (one might call this “history from below”, or even “subaltern studies”) that have elsewhere been omitted or glossed over in the (admittedly paltry) scholarly work on breastfeeding. Not perfect by any means, but a decent addition to any library on the subject.

[Rixa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An examination of different groups of women and their experiences and perceptions of breastfeeding. I felt that the groupings she chose (white middle class women who belonged to LLL, white working-class women, African American working-class women) were a bit simplistic; there's a lot more to core identity than race and income. I also found a fairly overt celebration of the "wonders" infant formula--that it is so scientifically advanced, that it's basically just like breast milk, etc--while she downplayed all of the extensive research about breast milk and breastfeeding.

[Jo Dagustun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm on page '296 of 296' of At the Breast: just finished this book, but not planning to put it away quite yet; loads to reflect upon in the context of my own research (and indeed life); thanks again Molly !