AT THE BREAST

Relying on a descriptive, sociological approach, the author surveys attitudes toward breastfeeding across time periods (from the 18th to the end of the 20th centuries) and social groups, focusing in turn on white middle-class, white working-class, and black mothers. Although her analysis of biological phenomena as shaped by race, gender, and class superficially resembles various trendy works of contemporary academic discourse, Blum (Sociology and Women’s Studies/Univ. of New Hampshire; Between Feminism and Labor, 19TK) eschews a militant ideological agenda and is reluctant to moralize or advocate any pattern of prescribed behavior. Using ample evidence gleaned from her field research interviewing women within each of the target groups, as well as authoritative sources (medical practitioners, psychiatrists, and psychologists), she discovers that in the contemporary world such an ancient and seemingly natural procedure as breastfeeding is embedded in a plethora of historical, political, racial, and economic contexts. For instance, prior to this century, wealthy white women were encouraged to employ wet nurses, usually women of color; this legacy that accounts to a large extent for the fact that nowadays black mothers often reject breastfeeding even though the modern medical establishment exhorts women to breastfeed. White middle-class women, on the other hand, opt for breastfeeding, which they equate with “moral motherhood.” As for working white mothers, they breastfeed less—due to such factors as lack of privacy, the need to earn a living, and health concerns—but are frequently anguished by these impediments to the fulfillment of their “maternal duty.” While most previous studies of this sort considered primarily the benefits to the infant of maternal milk, Blum emphasizes the mother’s side. She concludes that breastfeeding is a complex issue, which can potentially lead either to self-realization or to self-sacrifice and stress. For the modern feminist, Blum concludes, the choice between the bottle or the breast should proceed from a careful assessment of the woman’s own needs and desires.