Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Family, Life Course, and Society Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Family, Life Course, and Society
The Contradictory Nature Of Natural Mothering: A Discursive Analysis, Britni Lee Ayers
The Contradictory Nature Of Natural Mothering: A Discursive Analysis, Britni Lee Ayers
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
In our contemporary sociopolitical rhetoric breastfeeding is something that is natural and something women ought to do because breast is best. The problem with this contemporary discourse of breastfeeding and motherhood is that the dominant medical, political, technological, and patriarchal discourses surrounding breastfeeding have merged to create an highly unattainable definition of what it means to be a "good mother" (Blum 1993). Moreover, upon a close examination, the most pressing political and Social debates of today surrounding the welfare reform, women's employment, reproductive technologies, and abortion, among many others, construct distinctions between "good mothers" and "bad mothers." However, there has …