When a mother has her new child, she faces a tough decision: breastfeed or formula feed? Perhaps a combination of both? Many mothers have reservations about breastfeeding because of the time commitment and concerns over producing enough milk, but also fear that formula feeding could impact their baby's health. Are these fears warranted, or is formula feeding a safe and effective alternative to the natural method?
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Mothers are Held Uniquely Accountable for Risks to Children
- From Joan B Wolf PhD
By Joan B. Wolf, PhD - Texas A&M University
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Defining breastfeeding as a burden on women
If health authorities make exaggerated and alarmist claims about the risks of artificial feeding, they should be criticized. However, Joan Wolf's argument is itself questionable. She argued:
"Certainly, passion for breastfeeding .. [derives] from an ethos which presumes that a moral mother will subjugate herself completely to a culturally defined, all-inclusive notion of the needs of children."
This portrays breastfeeding as a burden or a constraint, that mothers subjugate themselves to. She continues:
"When mothers have wants, such as a sense of bodily, emotional, and psychological autonomy, but children have needs, such as an environment in which anything less than optimal is framed as perilous, then good mothering requires that mothers repress their own wants."
Once again, breastfeeding is portrayed as a threat to a woman's autonomy. The needs of children for the "optimal" - breastfeeding - is seen as a requirement for woman to "repress their own wants." It is curious Wolf views breastfeeding in so negative a way. Therefore we should ask what would make Wolf and other women react so negatively to the idea of breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding is nominally supported but subtly undermined by messages suggesting that it is tricky, burdensome, a drain on women's strength and a threat to women's autonomy. Perhaps we need to look at who benefits from these messages and how society can change to make it more friendly to breastfeeding.
- Michael Glass
September 19, 2008 6:06PM
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insinuations are not argument
Wolf and others oppose heavy-handed government campaigns designed to reduce women's range of acceptable choices to one. Every woman's situation is different, every family's situation is different, and it does none of them any good to spread misinformation about risks. I don't know what Mr. Glass means to imply with his nasty and unfounded insinuations about Joan Wolf's ideals. Certainly not the truth, which is that individual families should be allowed to make their own informed decisions about what is best for them.
- Scardanelli September 21, 2008 7:05PM
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Abuse and red herrings are not arguments either
In response to the abusive posting above, I should point out that I support any move to criticize any exaggerated promotion of breastfeeding. This is stated explicitly in my posting above. Alarmist propaganda is counterproductive. However, I also question a portrayal of breastfeeding to mean a woman will
* "subjugate herself completely to a culturally defined, all-inclusive notion of the needs of children"
* "requires that mothers repress their own wants."
I stated, and I repeat, that Joan Wolf's words reveal some hostility to breastfeeding and I wonder why this is so. I also repeat my suggestion that we consider who benefits from any hostility to breastfeeding and how society can change to make it more friendly to breastfeeding. And for the record, that does not have to mean that it must become more hostile to artificial feeding.
- Michael Glass
September 22, 2008 6:54AM
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whose heavy-handed advertising limits options?
Women's options concerning infant feeding are limited by many factors, including work environment and social pressures. However, far more women are bombarded with formula industry advertising than ever saw the government's ill-fated ad campaign (the content of which was in part determined by the formula industry, as reported by The Washington Post). Yes, families should be allowed to make informed choices but that requires being truly INFORMED and truly having options (education, workplace supports, medical supports) from which to choose.
- JDmama
September 22, 2008 11:30AM
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breastfeeding is not a burden!
These arguments that mothers are burdened by breastfeeding are completely untrue. It is true that all parents make sacrifices for their children, it just goes with the territory. But in my opinion, breastfeeding is not one of those sacrifices.
- Santa Cruz Mom
September 24, 2008 2:00PM
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Tackle the problem, not the symptom
This debate, like many other debates about work, women, and childcare, is framed in a way that leads to loose-loose solutions. The problem is not that breastfeeding reduces a woman's autonomy. The problem is that our system is structured in ways that force women to choose between breastfeeding (a potentially very rewarding source of joy and bonding for both the mother and the baby) and autonomy. The solution is not to question the positive benefits of breastfeeding, and turn this into a battle where mother and child are somehow pitted against each other. The solution is to develop institutions where mothers and fathers are given options of flexiwork, generous and equal paternity and maternity leave, good quality childcare, and areas in the workplace (and childcare center) where moms can breastfeed or pump milk.
My experience was that nursing my son was a joy, which made a lot of other things easier because it created a strong bond between me and my son. However, the demands of my work made breastfeeding difficult and often very painful. As a graduate student I don't get any maternity leave; the university did not have any place, except the restroom, where I could pump milk; and I usually had back to back classes that did not allow me to go home and pump milk. I was determined to breastfeed my son mainly because it was something that made both of us really happy (also, my son refused the bottle). However, the complete lack of institutional support, and indeed the many barriers my workplace placed in front of me, made me feel that I was trying to do something furtive and unsavory by wanting to nurse my son. Also, it was ultimately counterproductive not just for me but in terms of my productivity as a worker since being unable to nurse on time lead to infections and pain, which in turn meant that I ended up working less than I would have if my workplace had had the foresight to institute some basic facilities for mothers.
My husband was of limited help during this time since, obviously, he can't breastfeed, and like many other children who are breastfed, my son completely refused the bottle. However, after the first year, when I stopped breastfeeding, my husband took on the majority of the child care duties. However, again, our attempts to ensure that our son had a strong bond with my husband as well as with me, were met with resistance at every step from both our workplaces (of course, he has no paternity leave and no flexitime).
As a woman, I value my autonomy, and I support all attempts to increase the choices available to women. However, I resent and disagree with attempts to frame struggles for increasing my autonomy, as a battle between men and women, or as a battle between children and women. This framing twists the reality in ways that are not only inaccurate but strategically less powerful. My reality is that my husband and son are on my side, and we are all fighting against a system that sometimes makes it impossible for us to work hard at things we enjoy doing, and at the same time have a strong commitment to our family.
So, I appreciate the motivation behind the argument proposed in this blog. And I appreciate that your motivation is not fight against anything perceived as reducing my autonomy as a woman. However, the choice between autonomy and breastfeeding is not a choice I should have to make, and I resent attempts at framing the argument in a way that makes these antithetical, and then attempts to make me feel better about it. Perhaps formula is better. Perhaps breastfeeding is better. The question is largely irrelevant. I want to breastfeed. I should be able to do so without having to reconcile myself to a loss of autonomy.
So although I think your motivations are good, I think you are going about helping me the wrong way. You are choosing the wrong argument, and ultimately you are harming instead of helping me by framing the argument in ways that pit me against my son rather than pitting me against a workplace that does not support my twin roles as worker and mother. By framing the argument as women against child instead of family against corporates, you make it impossible to pass legislation that would make my life so much easier. Legislation on things that most of us (except perhaps some retrograde corporations) can agree on - like quality childcare, and generous and equal maternity and paternity leave. Legislation that would make it unnecessary for me or any other woman to have to choose between autonomy and breastfeeding.
thanks
- dalhia
September 23, 2008 9:56AM
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sacrifices for children
I think that BEFORE anyone has children they need to realize that having a baby changes everything. Yes things will be more difficult, no you can't do everything you used to. You can't work 60 hour weeks or just get up and go away for a weekend. People who wnat those things don't really want kids. They like the idea of a cute baby or have visions of perfect kids that fit into their schedules. It doesn't matter if you Breastfeed or formula feed things WILL change. It may be a pain sometimes and you won't come first. Your kids come first and if someone is selfish and doesn't want to put their lives on hold then they have no business having kids.
NOW that said I am NOT accusing Women who formula feed of putting their needs before their children! I just think it is one more way to distance yourself for your baby. I don't think all women do that. I am a firm believer in attachment parenting and it is possible to AP and formula feed, but it is so easy to have someone else feed the baby, or to leave the baby because the sitter has plenty of formula. Until a child is 2 they have a need to be close to their mother that is as real as their need for food.
- Gavinsmama
October 2, 2008 10:59AM
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