Johnson Sally, Williamson Iain, Lyttle Steven, Leeming Dawn
Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Bradford, Richmond Road, Bradford BD7 1DP, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Soc Sci Med. 2009 Sep;69(6):900-7. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.07.001. Epub 2009 Jul 29.
Recent feminist analyses, particularly from those working within a poststructuralist framework, have highlighted a number of historically located and contradictory socio-cultural constructions and practices which women are faced with when negotiating infant feeding, especially breastfeeding, within contemporary western contexts. However, there has been little explicit analysis of the practice of expressing breast milk. The aim of this article is to explore the embodied practice of expressing breast milk. This is done by analysing, from a feminist poststructuralist perspective, discourse surrounding expressing breast milk in sixteen first time mothers' accounts of early infant feeding. Participants were recruited from a hospital in the South Midlands of England. The data are drawn from the first phase of a larger longitudinal study, during which mothers kept an audio diary about their breastfeeding experiences for seven days following discharge from hospital, and then took part in a follow-up interview. Key themes identified are expressing breast milk as (i) a way of managing pain whilst still feeding breast milk; (ii) a solution to the inefficiencies of the maternal body; (iii) enhancing or disrupting the 'bonding process'; (iv) a way of managing feeding in public; and (v) a way to negotiate some independence and manage the demands of breastfeeding. Links between these and broader historical and socio-cultural constructions and practices are discussed. This analysis expands current feminist theorising around how women actively create the 'good maternal body'. As constructed by the participants, expressing breast milk appears to be largely a way of aligning subjectivity with cultural ideologies of motherhood. Moreover, breastfeeding discourses and practices available to mothers are not limitless and processes of power restrict the possibilities for women in relation to infant feeding.
近期的女性主义分析，尤其是来自那些在后结构主义框架下工作的学者的分析，突显了一系列具有历史定位且相互矛盾的社会文化建构及实践，在当代西方背景下，女性在协商婴儿喂养方式，尤其是母乳喂养时会面临这些情况。然而，对于挤奶行为的实践却鲜有明确的分析。本文旨在探讨挤奶的具体实践。这是通过从女性主义后结构主义视角分析16位初产妇关于早期婴儿喂养的叙述中围绕挤奶的话语来实现的。参与者从英格兰中部南部的一家医院招募。数据取自一项更大规模纵向研究的第一阶段，在此期间，母亲们在出院后的七天里记录关于她们母乳喂养经历的音频日记，然后参加后续访谈。确定的关键主题包括：挤奶是（i）在继续母乳喂养的同时缓解疼痛的一种方式；（ii）解决母体身体低效问题的一种方法；（iii）增强或扰乱“母婴联结过程”；（iv）在公共场合管理喂养的一种方式；以及（v）协商一定独立性并应对母乳喂养需求的一种方式。文中讨论了这些主题与更广泛的历史及社会文化建构和实践之间的联系。这一分析扩展了当前女性主义关于女性如何积极塑造“理想母体”的理论。在参与者的描述中，挤奶似乎很大程度上是一种使主体性与母性文化意识形态保持一致的方式。此外，母亲们可获得的母乳喂养话语和实践并非无限，权力过程限制了女性在婴儿喂养方面的可能性。
