Militant Lactivism? : : Attachment Parenting and Intensive Motherhood in the UK and France / / Charlotte Faircloth.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Berghahn Books Complete eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Faircloth, Charlotte,
• Place / Publishing House: New York ;, Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2013]; ©2013
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Language: English
• Series: Fertility, Reproduction and Sexuality: Social and Cultural Perspectives ; 24
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (278 p.)

Following networks of mothers in London and Paris, the author profiles the narratives of women who breastfeed their children to full term, typically a period of several years, as part of an 'attachment parenting' philosophy. These mothers talk about their decision to continue breastfeeding as 'the natural thing to do': 'evolutionarily appropriate', 'scientifically best' and 'what feels right in their hearts'. Through a theoretical focus on knowledge claims and accountability, the author frames these accounts within a wider context of 'intensive parenting', arguing that parenting practices – infant feeding in particular – have become a highly moralized affair for mothers, practices which they feel are a critical aspect of their 'identity work'. The book investigates why, how and with what implications some of these mothers describe themselves as 'militant lactivists' and reflects on wider parenting culture in the UK and France. Discussing gender, feminism and activism, this study contributes to kinship and family studies by exploring how relatedness is enacted in conjunction to constructions of the self.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS -- EPIGRAPH -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- Part I THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY MOTHERING -- Chapter 1 INTENSIVE MOTHERHOOD AND IDENTITY WORK -- Chapter 2 INFANT FEEDING AND INTENSIVE MOTHERHOOD -- Part II LA LECHE LEAGUE -- Chapter 3 CONTEXTUALISING ‘FULL-TERM’ BREASTFEEDING -- Chapter 4 LA LECHE LEAGUE PHILOSOPHY AND COMMUNITY -- Chapter 5 ‘FINDING MY TRIBE’ -- Part III ACCOUNTING FOR FULL-TERM BREASTFEEDING -- Chapter 6 ‘IT’S NATURAL’ SOME CULTURAL CONTRADICTIONS -- Chapter 7 ‘WHAT SCIENCE SAYS IS BEST’ SCIENCE AS DOGMA -- Chapter 8 ‘WHAT FEELS RIGHT IN MY HEART’ HORMONES, MORALITY AND AFFECTIVE BREASTFEEDING -- Part IV CONTEXTUALISING INTENSIVE MOTHERHOOD -- Chapter 9 MOTHERING AS IDENTITY WORK IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE THE CASE OF FRANCE -- CONCLUSION -- Appendix 1. Short Term and Long-Term Health Benefits of Breastfeeding for the Child and Mother In Developed Countries -- Appendix 2. Summary of Demographic Results from Questionnaire Responses -- REFERENCES -- INDEX