![]() ![]() ![]() In a recent pole, for example, 21% of mothers preferred not to breastfeed in public, due to fears of unfavourable reactions from the public, and 34% have felt embarrassed or uncomfortable whilst doing so (Start4Life, 2015). This objectification of the female breast and contradiction between its role as sexual object and nurturing site, can lead to intense cultural anxiety around breastfeeding, which effects both women’s inclination to breastfeed in public, and the initiation and duration of breastfeeding (Johnston-Robledo et al, 2007: Blum.L.M 1999. This can be charted through art, media, pornography and the beauty and fashion industry, where the breast is constantly projected as youthful, sexual and available, at distinct odds with the nurturing, maternal breast (Palmer.G, 2009 Blum.L.M, 1999). In her seminal book ‘The politics of Breastfeeding’ (2009) Gabrielle Palmer suggests ‘ our era is the first in recorded history where the breast has become a mass fetish for male sexual stimulation, while at the same time its primary function has diminished on a vast scale’. ![]()
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