Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T04:46:20.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

For Shame: Feminism, Breastfeeding Advocacy, and Maternal Guilt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2020

Erin N. Taylor  and
Lora Ebert Wallace
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this paper, we provide a new framework for understanding infant‐feeding‐related maternal guilt and shame, placing these in the context of feminist theoretical and psychological accounts of the emotions of self‐assessment. Whereas breastfeeding advocacy has been critiqued for its perceived role in inducing maternal guilt, we argue that the emotion women often feel surrounding infant feeding may be better conceptualized as shame in its tendency to involve a negative self‐assessment—a failure to achieve an idealized notion of good motherhood. Further, we suggest, both formula‐feeding and breastfeeding mothers experience shame: the former report feeling that they fail to live up to ideals of womanhood and motherhood, and the latter transgress cultural expectations regarding feminine modesty. The problem, then, is the degree to which mothers are vulnerable to shame generally, regardless of infant feeding practices. As an emotion that is less adaptive and potentially more damaging than guilt, shame ought to be the focus of resistance for both feminists and breastfeeding advocates, who need to work in conjunction with women to oppose this shame by assisting them in constructing their own ideals of good motherhood that incorporate a sense of self‐concern.

Type
Articles
Information
Hypatia , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , Winter 2012 , pp. 76 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by Hypatia, Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Academy of Family Physicians. 2008. Family physicians supporting breastfeeding position paper. http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/b/breastfeedingpositionpaper.html (accessed July 22, 2009).Google Scholar
Amodio, David, et al. 2007. A dynamic model of guilt: Implications for motivation and self‐regulation in the context of prejudice. Psychological Science 18 (6): 524–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anonymous. 2002. Comment on babycenter.com. http://www.babycenter.com/400_how-can-i-come-to‐terms‐with‐my‐guilty‐feelings‐about‐quitti_500346_1000.bc (accessed July 15, 2009).Google Scholar
Anonymous. 2004. Comment on babycenter.com. http://www.babycenter.com/400_how-do-i-handle-my-feelings-of-failure-for-not-breastfeeding_500721_1001.bc (accessed July 22, 2009).Google Scholar
Anonymous. 2006. Comment on babycenter.com. http://www.babycenter.com/400_how-do-i-handle-my-feelings-of-failure-for-not-breastfeeding_500721_1001.bc (accessed July 22, 2009)Google Scholar
Anonymous. 2007. Comments on babycenter.com. http://www.babycenter.com/400_how-can-i-come-to‐terms‐with‐my‐guilty‐feelings‐about‐quitti_500346_1000.bc (accessed July 15, 2009).Google Scholar
Anonymous. 2008. Comments on similac.com. http://similac.com/community/boards/forums/p/29/29.aspx (accessed July 22, 2009).Google Scholar
Anonymous. 2009. Comment on babycenter.com. http://community.babycenter.com/post/a11831855/i_stopped_breastfeeding_my_baby_today (accessed July 22, 2009).Google Scholar
Baer, Edward. 1981. Promoting breastfeeding: A national responsibility. Studies in Family Planning 12 (4): 198–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bartky, Sandra Lee. 1990. Femininity and domination: Studies in the phenomenology of oppression. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bartlett, Alison. 2002a. Breastfeeding as headwork: Corporeal feminism and meanings for breastfeeding. Women's Studies International Forum 25 (3): 373–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartlett, Alison. 2002b. Scandalous practices and political performances: Breastfeeding in the city. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 16 (1): 111–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartlett, Alison. 2005. Breastwork: Rethinking breastfeeding. Sidney: University of New South Wales Press.Google Scholar
Benetti‐McQuoid, Jessica, and Bursik, Krisanne. 2005. Individual differences in experiences of and responses to guilt and shame: Examining the lenses of gender and gender roles. Sex Roles 53 (1/2): 133–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blum, Linda M. 1993. Mothers, babies, and breastfeeding in late capitalist America: The shifting contexts of feminist theory. Feminist Studies 19 (2): 291–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, Thom. 2008. Shame on you, shame on me? Nussbaum on shame punishment. Journal of Applied Philosophy 25 (4): 322–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calhoun, Cheshire. 2004. An apology for moral shame. Journal of Political Philosophy 12 (2): 127–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, Pam. 1995. Feminism, breasts, and breastfeeding. New York: St. Martin's.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crossley, Michele. 2009. Breastfeeding as a moral imperative: An autoethnographic study. Feminism & Psychology 19 (1): 71–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, Joanna R. 2004. Bad breast‐feeders/good mothers: Constructing the maternal body in public. Berkeley Journal of Sociology 48: 50–73.Google Scholar
Deigh, John. 1983. Shame and self‐esteem: A critique. Ethics 93 (2): 225–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deonna, Julien, and Teroni, Fabrice. 2008. Shame's guilt disproved. Critical Quarterly 50 (4): 65–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, Tamara J., and Crowley, Susan L. 1997. Gender differences in the organization of guilt and shame. Sex Roles 37 (1/2): 20–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fineman, Martha. 1995. The neutered mother, the sexual family, and other twentieth century tragedies. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Galtry, Judith. 1997a. Lactation and the labor market: Breastfeeding, labor market changes, and public policy in the United States. Health Care for Women International 18: 467–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galtry, Judith. 1997b. Suckling and silence in the USA: The costs and benefits of breastfeeding. Feminist Economics 3 (3): 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galtry, Judith. 2000. Extending the “bright line”: Feminism, breastfeeding, and the workplace in the United States. Gender & Society 14 (2): 295–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, Paul. 1998. What is shame? Some core issues and controversies. In Shame: Interpersonal Behavior, Psychopathology, and Culture, ed. Gilbert, Paul and Andrews, Bernice. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hausman, Bernice L. 2003. Mother's milk: Breastfeeding controversies in American culture. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hausman, Bernice L. 2011. Viral mothers. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Kedrowski, Karen M., and Lipscomb, Michael E. 2008. Breastfeeding rights in the United States. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.Google Scholar
Kelleher, Christa M. 2006. The physical challenges of early breastfeeding. Social Science & Medicine 63: 2727–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klaassen, Johan A. 2001. The taint of shame: Failure, self‐distress, and moral growth. Journal of Social Philosophy 32 (2): 174–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knaak, Stephanie J. 2006. The problem with breastfeeding discourse. Canadian Journal of Public Health 97 (7): 412–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kukla, Rebecca. 2006. Ethics and ideology in breastfeeding advocacy campaigns. Hypatia 21 (1): 157–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labbok, Miriam. 2008. Exploration of guilt among mothers who do not breastfeed: The physician's role. Journal of Human Lactation 24 (1): 80–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lack, Evonne. 2008. Top 7 mommy guilt trips—and how to handle them. http://www.babycenter.com/0_top-7-mommy-guilt-trips-and-how-to-handlethem_3654967.bc (accessed July 15, 2009).Google Scholar
Law, Jules. 2000. The politics of breastfeeding: Assessing risk, dividing labor. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 25 (2): 407–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leith, Karen P., and Baumeister, Roy F.Empathy, shame, guilt, and narratives of interpersonal conflicts: Guilt‐prone people are better at perspective taking. Journal of Personality 66 (1): 1–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, Helen B. 1971. Guilt and shame in neurosis. New York: International Universities Press.Google ScholarPubMed
Locke, Jill. 2007. Shame and the future of feminism. Hypatia 22 (4): 146–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacPherson, James. 2009. Drunken breast‐feeding case stirs furor. The Chicago Tribune. July 7.Google Scholar
Maibom, Heidi L. 2010. The descent of shame. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 80 (3): 566–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manion, Jennifer C. 2002. The moral relevance of shame. American Philosophical Quarterly 39 (1): 73–90.Google Scholar
Manion, Jennifer C. 2003. Girls blush, sometimes: Gender, moral agency, and the problem of shame. Hypatia 18 (3): 21–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mathews, Andrew, and MacLeod, Colin. 1994. Cognitive approaches to emotion and emotional disorders. Annual Review of Psychology 45: 25–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McBurney, Lesley. 1999. Guilty secrets. http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/guilty.html (accessed July 15, 2009).Google Scholar
Mojab, Cynthia Good. 2002. The real breastfeeding issue goes far beyond mere guilt. http://home.comcast.net/%7Eammawell/realbreastfeedingissue.html (accessed July 15, 2009).Google Scholar
National Conference of State Legislatures. 2009. Breastfeeding laws. http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/Health/BreastfeedingLaws/tabid/14389/Default.aspx (accessed July 25, 2009).Google Scholar
Newman, Jack. 2000. Breastfeeding and guilt. http://www.kellymom.com/newman/bf_and_guilt_01-00.html (accessed July 15, 2009).Google Scholar
Niedenthal, Paula, et al. 1994. “If only I weren't” versus “if only I hadn't”: Distinguishing shame and guilt in counterfactual thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 67 (4): 585–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nussbaum, Martha. 2004. Hiding from humanity: Disgust, shame, and the law. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Orent, Wendy. 2007. The White House vs. mother's milk. The Los Angeles Times. September 30.Google Scholar
Probyn, Elspeth. 2004. Everyday shame. Cultural Studies 18 (23): 328–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rangganadhan, Anita, and Todorov, Natasha. 2010. Personality and self‐forgiveness: The roles of shame, guilt, empathy and conciliatory behavior. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 29 (1): 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robin, Peggy. 1995. Bottlefeeding without guilt: A reassuring guide for loving parents. Roseville, Calif.: Prima Lifestyles.Google Scholar
Robin, Peggy. 1998. When breastfeeding is not an option: A reassuring guide for loving parents. Roseville, CA: Prima Lifestyles.Google Scholar
Rosin, Hanna. 2009. The case against breast‐feeding. The Atlantic Online. April, http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200904/case-against-breastfeeding (accessed June 12, 2009).Google Scholar
Saxonhouse, Arlene. 2006. Free speech and democracy in ancient Athens. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Silfver, Mia. 2007. Coping with guilt and shame: A narrative approach. Journal of Moral Education 36 (2): 169–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slaw, Robin. 1999. 1999 LLLI conference sessions: Promoting breastfeeding or promoting guilt? http://www.llli.org/NB/NBSepOct99p171.html (accessed July 15, 2009).Google Scholar
Stearns, Cindy A. 1999. Breastfeeding and the good maternal body. Gender & Society 13 (3): 308–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuewig, Jeffrey, Hardy, Laura, Heigel, Caron, McCloskey, Laura, and Tangney, June P. 2010. Shaming, blaming, and maiming: Functional links among the moral emotions, externalization of blame, and aggression. Journal of Research in Personality 44: 91–102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tangney, June Price. 1991. Moral affect: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 61 (4): 598–607.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tangney, June Price, et al. 1992a. Proneness to shame, proneness to guilt, and psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 101 (3): 469–78.Google Scholar
Tangney, June Price, et al. 1992b. Shamed into anger? The relation of shame and guilt to anger and self‐reported aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 62 (4): 669–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tangney, June Price, et al. 1996. Are shame, guilt, and embarrassment distinct emotions? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 70 (6): 1256–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tangney, June Price, and Dearing, Ronda L. 2002. Shame and guilt. New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Tarnopolsky, Christina. 2004. Prudes, perverts, and tyrants: Plato and the contemporary politics of shame. Political Theory 32 (4): 468–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarnopolsky, Christina. 2007. Platonic reflections on the aesthetic dimensions of deliberative democracy. Political Theory 35 (3): 288–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Esterik, Penny, and Greiner, Ted. 1981. Breastfeeding and women's work: Constraints and opportunities. Studies in Family Planning 12 (4): 184–97.Google ScholarPubMed
Wall, Glenda. 2001. Moral constructions of motherhood in breastfeeding discourse. Gender & Society 15 (4): 592–610.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, Lora Ebert, and Chason, Holly. 2007. Infant feeding in the modern world: Medicalization and the maternal body. Sociological Spectrum 27: 405–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiessinger, Diane. 1996. Watch your language! Journal of Human Lactation 12 (1): 1–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wight, Nancy E. 2009. The guilt issue. http://www.breastfeeding.org/articles/guilt.html (accessed July 15, 2009).Google Scholar
Wolf, Jacqueline. 2000. The social and medical construction of lactation pathology. Women & Health 30 (3): 93–110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolf, Jacqueline. 2006. What feminists can do for breastfeeding and what breastfeeding can do for feminists. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 31 (2): 397–424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolf, Joan B. 2007. Is breast really best? Risk and total motherhood in the national breastfeeding awareness campaign. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 32 (4): 595–636.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yang, Mu Li, et al. 2010. When guilt leads to other orientation and shame leads to egocentric self‐focus: Effects of differential priming of negative affects on perspective taking. Social Behavior and Personality 38 (5): 605–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeutter, Clayton. 2004. Letter to Tommy Thompson. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/documents/yeutterletters.pdf (accessed February 17, 2004).Google Scholar
Young, Iris Marion. 1990. Throwing like a girl: And other essays in feminist philosophy and social theory. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar