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Moral work in women's narratives of breastfeeding

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  • Ryan, Kath
  • Bissell, Paul
  • Alexander, Jo

Abstract

Women's narratives of their breastfeeding experiences are sites of construction and reconstruction of self as they undertake moral work in relation to feeding their baby. We engaged Foucault's 'technologies of the self' and his notion of ethics (the relationship with self) to examine that moral work (individual actions rather than adherence to universal moral codes) in relation to women's subjectivity constructed in interviews with 49 women from the UK. Four categories of moral work were identified: biographical preservation, biographical repair, altruism and political action. We describe each of these and conclude that women's embodied experience and sense of self are disciplined within current, limited, often punishing discourses by undertaking painful moral work in order to maintain or repair their subjective positions. We suggest the development of new subject positions around infant feeding practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryan, Kath & Bissell, Paul & Alexander, Jo, 2010. "Moral work in women's narratives of breastfeeding," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 951-958, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:70:y:2010:i:6:p:951-958
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marshall, Joyce L. & Godfrey, Mary & Renfrew, Mary J., 2007. "Being a 'good mother': Managing breastfeeding and merging identities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(10), pages 2147-2159, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Braimoh, Jessica & Davies, Lorraine, 2014. "When ‘breast’ is no longer ‘best’: Post-partum constructions of infant-feeding in the hospital," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 82-89.
    2. Jacqueline Elizabeth van Wijlen, 2019. "Breastfeeding woman or lactating object? A critical philosophical discussion on the influence of Cartesian dualism on breastfeeding in the neonatal intensive care unit," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5-6), pages 1022-1031, March.
    3. Caroline Wilson & Catherine Cook, 2018. "Ambiguous loss and post‐traumatic growth: Experiences of mothers whose school‐aged children were born extremely prematurely," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(7-8), pages 1627-1639, April.
    4. Tomori, Cecilia & Palmquist, Aunchalee E.L. & Dowling, Sally, 2016. "Contested moral landscapes: Negotiating breastfeeding stigma in breastmilk sharing, nighttime breastfeeding, and long-term breastfeeding in the U.S. and the U.K," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 178-185.
    5. Kestler-Peleg, Miri & Shamir-Dardikman, Merav & Hermoni, Doron & Ginzburg, Karni, 2015. "Breastfeeding motivation and Self-Determination Theory," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 19-27.
    6. Sunna Símonardóttir, 2016. "Getting the Green Light: Experiences of Icelandic Mothers Struggling with Breastfeeding," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 21(4), pages 82-94, November.
    7. Robyn Lee, 2018. "Breastfeeding Bodies: Intimacies at Work," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 77-90, January.

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