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

Linda M. Blum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1999

In our irnoic, "post-feminist" age, few things inspire passion. Breastfeeding is one of them. For advocates, breastfeeding is empowering, the only way to supply babies proper nutrition, and the "bond" that cements the mother/child relationship. It is also deemed "natural" in a world of genetically modified product and mal-dominated 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 for some women to feel they have failed as mothers?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nature and gender dynamics are often at cross-purposes, and it seems to be the fate of feminists in the last years of the 20th century to find themselves forever hostage in the uneasy negotiations between the two. University of New Hampshire sociologist Linda Blum's highly informative study of the cultural complexities behind the simple act of breast-feeding is yet another example of the many ways in which a contemporary woman's right to choose often finds itself in conflict with physiology's dictates.

In her previous book, Between Feminism and Labor, Blum explored the intersection between the feminist movement and the rise of unions through a series of case studies. She uses that technique to good effect here as well, interviewing white, middle-class La Leche League enthusiasts; blue-collar white women; and black, working-class mothers about their attitudes towards breast-feeding. The health benefits of breast milk for infants are almost universally acknowledged--but how realistic is it for all working women to nurse? What about those mothers who have a hard time making the transition between viewing their breasts as erogenous zones and seeing them as baby's buffet? There is even controversy about what exactly constitutes breast-feeding: are sucklings weaned at six weeks or infants fed breast-pumped milk through a bottle truly "breast" babies? Blum's analysis of such issues is respectful of the social and psychological imperatives that inform a woman's decision on whether or not to breast-feed. --Patrizia DiLucchio

From Library Journal

Breastfeeding is usually considered a part of child rearing and a method of providing nutrition; this book by a sociologist examines it from a different perspective. By studying the history of breastfeeding in the United States in the 20th century and interviewing women in various racial and socioeconomic groups, Blum offers a glimpse of the contradictions surrounding a physiological function. Nursing a baby gives a mother a chance to bond with her child, but it also relinquishes some of her control over her body, interferes with equality in the workplace, and transmits diseases such as HIV to infants. While white middle-class women feel that breastfeeding is part of motherhood, women of color see it as a reminder of slavery and an obstacle to independence. This book treats a fascinating subject, but the jargon-filled text makes it more suitable for academic libraries and women's studies collections. Scholars will appreciate the extensive bibliography. Public libraries are better served by more practical books such as Pamela Wiggins's Breastfeeding: A Mother's Gift (LJ 10/1/98).ABarbara M. Bibel, Oakland P.L., CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (April 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807021407
• ISBN-13: 978-0807021408
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,842,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not "sociology at its best", July 10, 1999

By 

J. Berry (Westerville, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: At the Breast: Ideologies of Breastfeeding and Motherhood in the Contemporary United States (Hardcover)

I found this book fascinating ... and maddening. Blum makes some interesting, on-target observations, yet -- despite her awareness that "absences are presences" -- she shapes her research by what she fails to look at. In particular, I was shocked to realize she'd spoken to ONE health care practitioner, even though she speaks authoritatively about "the medical community" pressuring women to breastfeed. This is NOT happening in the real world, where women are discouraged from breastfeeding or given subversive advice based on opinions, not medical research. She "systematically read the various pronouncements of the AAP" and other pieces, then supplemented this with ONE measly interview. Thus she misses learning that the pronouncements of the AAP don't have a thing to do with real doctors and nurses in the real world ... this despite the fact that her own interviews turn up scores of examples of women who got inane advice from doctors and hospital personnel -- advice that destroyed their breastfeeding relationships. Why is this? Because medical schools don't deem breastfeeding important enough to teach. Because breastfeeding is not deemed any HCP's responsibility, and it slips through the cracks. Because HCPs, like everyone, want others to make the decisions they've made. Because HCPs get gifts, free formula, and misinformation from the ubiquitous formula representatives. Blum should read the March 1999 Pediatrics article describing a survey of Fellows of the AAP. This is by no means groundbreaking; past studies have shown similar ignorance in the medical community. These doctors know as much as the average Joe or Jane on the street about breastfeeding, yet they feel confident giving advice -- advice that limits women's choices and robs them of their power. THIS is a feminist issue. This is, to use Robert Mendelsohn's term, MalePractice. How on earth could Blum have missed this point when the evidence is everywhere -- and she herself turned up so much of it? There's a lot of misinformation in this book that could easily have been remedied by research (including Blum's pronouncements on La Leche League, a worldwide organization, based on one geographical area), and I'm disappointed that Blum didn't know better (or perhaps she did, but was too eager to prove her theories and justify her admitted ambivalence about breastfeeding). I'm especially disappointed because this work had so much potential and still contains so many excellent points. And I'm disappointed because, as Katie Allison Granju points out in a previous review, Blum has somehow managed to miss many of the feminist issues tied up in breastfeeding. Blum has let her work be limited by her own experiences -- and she seems too smart for this. :-(

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A few nuggets in an otherwise sorry treatment of the subject, December 6, 2001

By 

Tammy L. Schilling "tammyl84" (MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: At the Breast: Ideologies of Breastfeeding and Motherhood in the Contemporary United States (Paperback)

I bought this book prepared to be fascinated. I was not disappointed. The author addresses some truly fascinating topics of how we view motherhood and breastfeeding in the United States. She makes some good points.

There were, however, so many problems with this book that it really overshadowed what the author did well. An interesting contrast is shown between the African American mothers and Caucasian American mothers that she interviewed for this book. One group feeling guilty about not breastfeeding and using public assistance, the other group apparently feeling no guilt about not breastfeeding and expressing a sense of entitlement to public assistance programs. Rather than expounding upon this fascinating subject of differing emotional perspectives on breastfeeding, the author serves up her thinly veiled personal political views. Worse, she openly expresses disrespect for one of the mothers that she interviewed, denoting in the book how she "kept the upper hand" in the interview. While one could argue that an interviewer "needs" to stay in control of the interview, there is absolutely no reason to show such public rudeness to someone who freely gave of their time to help the author with her research.

The author makes a conversation about the medical community pushing mothers into guilt about not breastfeeding, based upon ONE interveiw. Without even going into the lack of coverage of varying medical attitudes about breastfeeding in different regions of the United States, it has to be stated that making any such statement based upon just one statement is not only poor judgement, but simply ridiculous. Again the author takes a large issue and over-simplifies it for the convenience of her book.

Ms. Blum's contradictory treatment of the importance of breastfeeding is infuriating. With one hand she states her belief in the benefits of breastfeeding, with the other she marginalizes its importance, as if the decision were no more important than whether to wear blue jeans of khakis.

If you want a very slim beginning to this subject go ahead and read the book. Please, though, borrow it rather than buy it and reward the author for such a poor job.

39 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Simplistic and biased, June 23, 1999

By 

Janet Marshall (Burlington, VT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: At the Breast: Ideologies of Breastfeeding and Motherhood in the Contemporary United States (Hardcover)

This book provides overly-simplistic and biased analysis to a complex issue. The individuals within the author's tiny (twenty or fewer) sample sizes of various sub-cultures (such as La Leche League members, minority and disadvantaged women, etc) seem to have been hand-picked in order to "prove" her theory: that breastfeeding is an immensely difficult, arcane, and sexualized undertaking that can/should only be attempted by women with maximum personal privacy, family support and financial backing. The book entirely ignores the empowering, radical feminist nature of breastfeeding (see books by Penny Van Esterik, Katherine Dettwyler, and Gabrielle Palmer for academic research on this topic). The book completely neglects the issue of the relative risks of artificial feeding for American babies, and the book implies quite forcefully that the mountain of peer-reviewed medical research demosntrating the critical importance of human milk is flawed or over-stated in some way.

A better title for this one would have been "Bottle-feeding Without Guilt". Oh wait....that one is already taken... Maybe "Bottle-Feeding Without Guilt for the Intelligentsia" would work then.