'Relational, and strange': A preliminary Foray into a project to queer breastfeeding

Australian Feminist Studies

Volumn 19, Issue 45, 2004, Pages 301-314

  Giles, Fiona ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 8844231047     PISSN: 08164649     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/0816464042000278981     Document Type: Review

References (76)

1. 〈Freshmilkstories.com〉, 2003.
2. Bernice Hausman, Mother's Milk: Breastfeeding Controversies in American Culture (Routledge) New York, 2003, p. 3.
3. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Tendencies (Duke University Press) Durham, NC, 1995, p. 20.
4. This is despite the existence of many adult breastfeeding stories throughout Christian apocrypha, in Ancient Roman writings, in Renaissance and Classical art (for example Caravaggio's Seven Acts of Mercy and Greuze's Cimon and Pero), as well as cross-cultural practices such as the Japanese tradition of nursing older relatives in poor health. And within canonical fiction there is a more recent example of this in John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath (1941).
5. This is despite the existence of many adult breastfeeding stories throughout Christian apocrypha, in Ancient Roman writings, in Renaissance and Classical art (for example Caravaggio's Seven Acts of Mercy and Greuze's Cimon and Pero), as well as cross-cultural practices such as the Japanese tradition of nursing older relatives in poor health. And within canonical fiction there is a more recent example of this in John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath (1941).
6. This is despite the existence of many adult breastfeeding stories throughout Christian apocrypha, in Ancient Roman writings, in Renaissance and Classical art (for example Caravaggio's Seven Acts of Mercy and Greuze's Cimon and Pero), as well as cross-cultural practices such as the Japanese tradition of nursing older relatives in poor health. And within canonical fiction there is a more recent example of this in John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath (1941).
7. Figures for 1994 show that Australia has one of the highest breastfeeding rates in the industrialised world, with 84 per cent of Australian mothers initiating breastfeeding at birth; but less than 49 per cent are still breastfeeding at six months old, and only 3 per cent make it to the two-year mark, which is the minimum weaning age recommended by the World Health Organisation. In England the rates are much lower, with only 66 per cent taking it up before leaving hospital, and 27 per cent still breastfeeding at four months. America has the worst record of all with only 53 per cent initiating breastfeeding and barely 20 per cent continuing beyond four months.
8. There is a surprisingly large number of Internet discussion groups devoted to practitioners of this activity, and for people seeking nursing partners. The Society for Nursing Couples, which is specifically for discussion amongst those already in adult nursing relationships, has nearly 3,000 members. And Yahoo's listing of active breastfeeding relationship groups (as opposed to those merely seeking partners) runs to more than 300.
9. A recent article by Anthea Gerrie in London's Mirror asserts there is a resurgence of this practice because 'career women want to breastfeed their baby for the recommended six months, but have to return to work' (6 November 2003, p. 37). This postdates by two years Claudia McCreary's article for gay parents, 'Male Wet Nurse Wanted', together with extensive instructions on inducing lactation through pumping. See 〈http://www.suite101.com/article/cfm/ gay_parenting_families/77524〉, 18 August 2001.
10. A recent article by Anthea Gerrie in London's Mirror asserts there is a resurgence of this practice because 'career women want to breastfeed their baby for the recommended six months, but have to return to work' (6 November 2003, p. 37). This postdates by two years Claudia McCreary's article for gay parents, 'Male Wet Nurse Wanted', together with extensive instructions on inducing lactation through pumping. See 〈http://www.suite101.com/article/cfm/ gay_parenting_families/77524〉, 18 August 2001.
11. A recent article by Anthea Gerrie in London's Mirror asserts there is a resurgence of this practice because 'career women want to breastfeed their baby for the recommended six months, but have to return to work' (6 November 2003, p. 37). This postdates by two years Claudia McCreary's article for gay parents, 'Male Wet Nurse Wanted', together with extensive instructions on inducing lactation through pumping. See 〈http://www.suite101.com/article/cfm/ gay_parenting_families/77524〉, 18 August 2001.
12. See, for example, the work of Patrick Bucklew, 〈http://community. webtv.net/patbaloo/NewCutOutsbyPatrick〉.
13. Fiona Giles, Fresh Milk: the Secret Life of Breasts (Simon & Schuster) New York, 2003; and (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 2003.
14. 'Chinese Restaurant Offers Breast Milk Meals', 29 January 2003, 〈http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/ s771885.htm〉; 'Prostitute Offers Breast Milk Service' (n.d.), 〈http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm-801062. htm〉.
15. 'Chinese Restaurant Offers Breast Milk Meals', 29 January 2003, 〈http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/ s771885.htm〉; 'Prostitute Offers Breast Milk Service' (n.d.), 〈http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm-801062. htm〉.
16. Adrienne Rich, 'Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Experience' in Catharine R. Stimpson and Ethel Spector Person (eds), Women, Sex and Sexuality (Chicago University Press) Chicago, 1980, pp. 62-91.
17. A good example of this theoretical approach to heterosexuality is Kath Albury, Yes Means Yes: Getting Explicit about Heterosex (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 2002.
18. Nikki Sullivan, A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory (Circa) Armadale, 2003, pp. 43-4.
19. Sullivan, Queer Theory, p. 44.
20. Sedgwick, Tendencies, p. 9.
21. An exception is Virginia Schmied's unpublished paper, 'Subjectivity and Uncertainty: Exploring the Moment of Birth', Body Modifications Conference, Macquarie University, April 2003. Additionally, Rhonda Shaw's article, 'The Virtues of Cross-nursing and the "Yuk Factor"' in this issue of Australian Feminist Studies, considers the complex ethical relation between breastfeeding subject and child, in the context of such fluidity. See also Edith Frampton's article in this issue for a close reading of Melanie Klein and Julia Kristeva's work on breastfeeding and subjectivity: 'Fluid Objects: Kleinian Psychoanalytic Theory and Breastfeeding Narratives'.
22. An exception is Virginia Schmied's unpublished paper, 'Subjectivity and Uncertainty: Exploring the Moment of Birth', Body Modifications Conference, Macquarie University, April 2003. Additionally, Rhonda Shaw's article, 'The Virtues of Cross-nursing and the "Yuk Factor"' in this issue of Australian Feminist Studies, considers the complex ethical relation between breastfeeding subject and child, in the context of such fluidity. See also Edith Frampton's article in this issue for a close reading of Melanie Klein and Julia Kristeva's work on breastfeeding and subjectivity: 'Fluid Objects: Kleinian Psychoanalytic Theory and Breastfeeding Narratives'.
23. An exception is Virginia Schmied's unpublished paper, 'Subjectivity and Uncertainty: Exploring the Moment of Birth', Body Modifications Conference, Macquarie University, April 2003. Additionally, Rhonda Shaw's article, 'The Virtues of Cross-nursing and the "Yuk Factor"' in this issue of Australian Feminist Studies, considers the complex ethical relation between breastfeeding subject and child, in the context of such fluidity. See also Edith Frampton's article in this issue for a close reading of Melanie Klein and Julia Kristeva's work on breastfeeding and subjectivity: 'Fluid Objects: Kleinian Psychoanalytic Theory and Breastfeeding Narratives'.
24. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Epistemology of the Closet (University of California Press) Berkeley, 1990, p. 22.
25. Elspeth Probyn, Carnal Appetites: Food, Sex, Identities (Routledge) London, 2000, p. 61.
26. Sedgwick, Tendencies, p. xii.
27. See, for example, Rhonda Shaw's article in this issue of Australian Feminist Studies, 'The Virtues of Cross-nursing and the "Yuk Factor" '.
28. This profession evolved in the mid-1980s in response to mothers' need for specialist assistance with breastfeeding, and the absence of expertise within the medical profession. The first exams conducted by the IBCLC were held in Melbourne, Australia, and Washington, DC, USA, in 1985. There are now nearly 14,000 lactation consultants worldwide, and while most are in the United States and Australia they also exist in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
29. Hausman, Mother's Milk, p. 21.
30. Dr George Sharpe of the Children's Hospital in Austin, quoted in Giles, Fresh Milk, p. 51.
31. Quoted in Hausman, Mother's Milk, p. 219.
32. Bernice Hausman, paper presented to the Annual Conference of the Society for Literature and Science, Pasadena, 2002. She writes: '"Viral mothers" is a concept I use to designate a broad scenario or paradigm for perceiving mothers' relations with their offspring. It is about associating the transmission of disease with the mother's unique physiological relation to her foetus or her breastfeeding infant. In the United States it is generally associated with foetal alcohol syndrome, so-called "crack babies," and HIV infection.'
33. Hausman, Mother's Milk, p. 41.
34. See, for example, 'Dads, Breasts and Babies', an educational pamphlet developed by Marjorie Atchen and Mark Friedewald, Central Coast Health, New South Wales, 2003.
35. See, for example, Cindy Stearns, 'Breastfeeding and the Good Maternal Body', Gender & Society, vol. 13, no. 1, 1999, pp. 308-25.
36. The organisation of mass breastfeeding competitions, for the Guinness Book of Records, for example, or to promote breastfeeding awareness, merely underscore the norm of breastfeeding as a private, solitary activity. See, for example, Liz Terry, 'Suckers for a Record Rise to the Challenge', West Australian, 2 August, 2001.
37. Sydney Morning Herald, 23 August 2002, 〈http://www.smh.com.au/text/ articles/2002/08/23/1030052975018.htm〉.
38. Sydney Morning Herald, 23 August 2002.
39. Thomas Korosex, 'When Does a Snapshot of a Mother Breast-feeding her Child Become Kiddie Porn? Ask the Richardson Police', Dallas Observer, 17 April 2003, 〈http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2003-04-17/feature2.html/1/ index.html〉.
40. Sedgwick, Epistemology of the Closet, pp. 67-90. In the context of breastfeeding it is worth noting her statement 'The gay closet is not a feature only of the lives of gay people' (p. 68).
41. See 'Tapu Misa: Caution - the Content of this Column Might Offend', New Zealand Herald, 6 August 2003, 〈http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ storydisplay〉.
42. 'Nursing Mum Ad Banned', Brisbane Courier Mail, 20 March 2003, p. 9.
43. Citing Newton and Newton, as well as Masters and Johnson, Tore Hakansoon writes: 'The relations between breastfeeding, milk letdown and sexual arousal is well established', in her essay 'Sexuality and Lactation', paper submitted to the 7th World Congress of New Delhi, 1985, p. 1. A rare example of medical discourse which applies itself to the sexuality of breastfeeding is Viola Polomeno, 'Sex and Breastfeeding: an Educational Perspective', Journal of Perinatal Education, vol. 8, no. 1, 1999, pp. 29-41. And Barbara Sichtermann argues persuasively for the sexuality of breastfeeding in her essay 'The Lost Eroticism of the Breasts' in Femininity: the Politics of the Personal, John Whitlam (trans.) (Polity) Cambridge, 1986, pp. 55-68.
44. Citing Newton and Newton, as well as Masters and Johnson, Tore Hakansoon writes: 'The relations between breastfeeding, milk letdown and sexual arousal is well established', in her essay 'Sexuality and Lactation', paper submitted to the 7th World Congress of New Delhi, 1985, p. 1. A rare example of medical discourse which applies itself to the sexuality of breastfeeding is Viola Polomeno, 'Sex and Breastfeeding: an Educational Perspective', Journal of Perinatal Education, vol. 8, no. 1, 1999, pp. 29-41. And Barbara Sichtermann argues persuasively for the sexuality of breastfeeding in her essay 'The Lost Eroticism of the Breasts' in Femininity: the Politics of the Personal, John Whitlam (trans.) (Polity) Cambridge, 1986, pp. 55-68.
45. Citing Newton and Newton, as well as Masters and Johnson, Tore Hakansoon writes: 'The relations between breastfeeding, milk letdown and sexual arousal is well established', in her essay 'Sexuality and Lactation', paper submitted to the 7th World Congress of New Delhi, 1985, p. 1. A rare example of medical discourse which applies itself to the sexuality of breastfeeding is Viola Polomeno, 'Sex and Breastfeeding: an Educational Perspective', Journal of Perinatal Education, vol. 8, no. 1, 1999, pp. 29-41. And Barbara Sichtermann argues persuasively for the sexuality of breastfeeding in her essay 'The Lost Eroticism of the Breasts' in Femininity: the Politics of the Personal, John Whitlam (trans.) (Polity) Cambridge, 1986, pp. 55-68.
46. I am grateful to Keren Epstein-Gilboa for helping to develop this point, from private correspondence.
47. Julia Kristeva, 'Stabat Mater' in Toril Moi (ed.), The Kristeva Reader (Blackwell) Oxford, 1986, pp. 160-86. She writes: Although it concerns every woman's body, the heterogeneity that cannot be subsumed in the signifier nevertheless explodes violently with pregnancy (the threshold of culture and nature) and the child's arrival (which extracts woman out of her oneness and gives her the possibility-but not the certainty-of reaching out to the other, the ethical). Those particularities of the maternal body compose woman into a being of folds, a catastrophe of being that dialectics of the trinity and its supplements would be unable to subsume. (pp. 182-3).
48. Iris Marion Young, Throwing Like a Girl, and other Essays in Feminist Philosophy and Social Theory (Indiana University Press) Bloomington, 1990, pp. 198-9.
49. Toril Moi, Introduction to 'Stabat Mater' by Julia Kristeva, in The Kristeva Reader, pp. 160-1.
50. Young, Throwing Like a Girl, p. 199.
51. Linda Blum, At the Breast: Ideologies of Breastfeeding and Motherhood in the Contemporary United States (Beacon Press) Boston, 1999.
52. Pam Carter, Feminism, Breasts and Breastfeeding (St. Martin's Press) New York, 1995.
53. An important exception is the work of Marylynn Salmon, 'The Cultural Significance of Breastfeeding and Infant Care in Early Modern England and America', Journal of Social History, vol. 28, no. 2, 1994, pp. 247-67. In this article Salmon records the common homemade remedies for various ailments which included breastmilk, together with the use of adult nursing for members of the family in poor health.
54. This example of breastmilk being provided to the family pet, either directly or once expressed, and either in reality or in dreams, is something that came up frequently in survey responses to Fresh Milk.
55. See Janet Golden, 'From Commodity to Gift: Gender, Class and the Meaning of Breast Milk in the Twentieth Century', The Historian, vol. 59, no. 1, 1996, pp. 75-87. An example of contemporary wet-nursing, though the donor refused financial remuneration, is in 'Situations Vacant' in Giles, Fresh Milk, pp. 21-8.
56. See Janet Golden, 'From Commodity to Gift: Gender, Class and the Meaning of Breast Milk in the Twentieth Century', The Historian, vol. 59, no. 1, 1996, pp. 75-87. An example of contemporary wet-nursing, though the donor refused financial remuneration, is in 'Situations Vacant' in Giles, Fresh Milk, pp. 21-8.
57. For a discussion of how these competing definitions of the breast affect breastfeeding decisions, see M. Paz Galupo and Jean F. Ayers, 'Negotiating the Maternal and Sexual Breast: Narratives of Breastfeeding Mothers', Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering, vol. 4, no. 1, 2002, pp. 20-30.
58. A celebrated alternative is Annie Lebowitz's portrait of Jerry Hall feeding one of her naked babies while gazing directly at the viewer. Comparing this to Maria Lactans images shows that, apart from the direction of her gaze, the standard iconography of the naked Jesus nursed by the affluent, dutiful mother seated alone at home, and fully dressed with only her nursing breast exposed, remains unchanged. Although it could be argued that this image shows the beginnings of an integration of Mary (the Madonna) and Jerry (arguably constructed as rock 'n' roll god Mick Jagger's whore)-that is, between the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene-the image testifies to the continuing power of the former iconography, and the erotic tensions it occasions.
59. See Sharon Olds, 'The New Mother' in The Dead and The Living (Knopl) New York, 1984, p. 53; Margaret Christakos, 'Bits' in The Moment Coming (ECW Press) Toronto, 1988, p. 88; and Elizabeth Garrett, 'Mother, Baby, Lover' in Linda France (ed.), Women Poets (Bloodaxe) Newcastle upon Tyne, 1993, p. 41.
60. See Sharon Olds, 'The New Mother' in The Dead and The Living (Knopl) New York, 1984, p. 53; Margaret Christakos, 'Bits' in The Moment Coming (ECW Press) Toronto, 1988, p. 88; and Elizabeth Garrett, 'Mother, Baby, Lover' in Linda France (ed.), Women Poets (Bloodaxe) Newcastle upon Tyne, 1993, p. 41.
61. See Sharon Olds, 'The New Mother' in The Dead and The Living (Knopl) New York, 1984, p. 53; Margaret Christakos, 'Bits' in The Moment Coming (ECW Press) Toronto, 1988, p. 88; and Elizabeth Garrett, 'Mother, Baby, Lover' in Linda France (ed.), Women Poets (Bloodaxe) Newcastle upon Tyne, 1993, p. 41.
62. Elissa Schappel, 'Here is Comfort, Take It' in Use Me (William Morrow) New York, 2000, pp. 285-320. Another example of a fictional queering of breastfeeding and lactation occurs in Ginu Kamani's story 'Younger Wife' in Junglee Girl (Aunt Lute Books) San Francisco, 1995, pp. 99-110.
63. Elissa Schappel, 'Here is Comfort, Take It' in Use Me (William Morrow) New York, 2000, pp. 285-320. Another example of a fictional queering of breastfeeding and lactation occurs in Ginu Kamani's story 'Younger Wife' in Junglee Girl (Aunt Lute Books) San Francisco, 1995, pp. 99-110.
64. Angelica Jacob, Fermentation (Bloomsbury) London, 1997, pp. 125-6.
65. 'New York's Asian Film Festival', 〈http://www.subwaycinema.com/ frames/archives/nyaff02/visitorq.htm〉.
66. There are, of course, other examples, such as Peter Paul Rubens' Venus, Mars and Cupid, and Caravaggio's Seven Acts of Mercy - both of which depict non-normative breastfeeding behaviours, but it is outside the scope of this article to examine these in detail.
67. There are, of course, other examples, such as Peter Paul Rubens' Venus, Mars and Cupid, and Caravaggio's Seven Acts of Mercy - both of which depict non-normative breastfeeding behaviours, but it is outside the scope of this article to examine these in detail.
68. Hélène Cixous, 'The Laugh of the Medusa' in Elaine Marks and Isabelle de Courtivron (eds), New French Feminisms: an Anthology (Harvester Press) Sussex, 1981, p. 251.
69. For existing theoretical work in this area, which specifically looks at maternal sexuality, though not always in relation to breastfeeding, see Lynda Marin, 'Mother and Child: the Erotic Bond' in Maureen T. Reddy, Martha Roth and Amy Sheldon (eds), Mother Journeys: Feminists Write About Mothering (Spinsters Ink) Minneapolis, 1994, pp. 9-21; Noelle Oxenhandler, The Eros of Parenthood: Explorations in Light and Dark (St. Martin's Press) New York, 2001; Sichtermann, 'The Lost Eroticism of the Breasts', pp. 55-68; and Christina Traina, 'Maternal Experience and the Boundaries of Christian Sexual Ethics', Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 25, no. 2, 2000, pp. 369-405.
70. For existing theoretical work in this area, which specifically looks at maternal sexuality, though not always in relation to breastfeeding, see Lynda Marin, 'Mother and Child: the Erotic Bond' in Maureen T. Reddy, Martha Roth and Amy Sheldon (eds), Mother Journeys: Feminists Write About Mothering (Spinsters Ink) Minneapolis, 1994, pp. 9-21; Noelle Oxenhandler, The Eros of Parenthood: Explorations in Light and Dark (St. Martin's Press) New York, 2001; Sichtermann, 'The Lost Eroticism of the Breasts', pp. 55-68; and Christina Traina, 'Maternal Experience and the Boundaries of Christian Sexual Ethics', Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 25, no. 2, 2000, pp. 369-405.
71. For existing theoretical work in this area, which specifically looks at maternal sexuality, though not always in relation to breastfeeding, see Lynda Marin, 'Mother and Child: the Erotic Bond' in Maureen T. Reddy, Martha Roth and Amy Sheldon (eds), Mother Journeys: Feminists Write About Mothering (Spinsters Ink) Minneapolis, 1994, pp. 9-21; Noelle Oxenhandler, The Eros of Parenthood: Explorations in Light and Dark (St. Martin's Press) New York, 2001; Sichtermann, 'The Lost Eroticism of the Breasts', pp. 55-68; and Christina Traina, 'Maternal Experience and the Boundaries of Christian Sexual Ethics', Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 25, no. 2, 2000, pp. 369-405.
72. For existing theoretical work in this area, which specifically looks at maternal sexuality, though not always in relation to breastfeeding, see Lynda Marin, 'Mother and Child: the Erotic Bond' in Maureen T. Reddy, Martha Roth and Amy Sheldon (eds), Mother Journeys: Feminists Write About Mothering (Spinsters Ink) Minneapolis, 1994, pp. 9-21; Noelle Oxenhandler, The Eros of Parenthood: Explorations in Light and Dark (St. Martin's Press) New York, 2001; Sichtermann, 'The Lost Eroticism of the Breasts', pp. 55-68; and Christina Traina, 'Maternal Experience and the Boundaries of Christian Sexual Ethics', Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 25, no. 2, 2000, pp. 369-405.
73. Sedgwick, Tendencies, p. 8.
74. Probyn, Carnal Appetites, pp. 146-7. For an exploration of the corporeal intelligence of breasts and lactation, see Alison Bartlett's essay 'Thinking through Breasts: Writing Maternity', Feminist Theory, vol. 1, no. 2, 2000, pp. 173-88.
75. Probyn, Carnal Appetites, pp. 146-7. For an exploration of the corporeal intelligence of breasts and lactation, see Alison Bartlett's essay 'Thinking through Breasts: Writing Maternity', Feminist Theory, vol. 1, no. 2, 2000, pp. 173-88.
76. Roland Barthes, 'Wine and Milk' in Mythologies, Annette Lavers (trans.) (Vintage) London, 2000, pp. 58-61, 61.