Authors: Elisabeth Badinter
The Conflict (4 page)
Within a few years, from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, feminist theory took a 180-degree turn. A new wave of feminism turned its back on the culturalist approach favored by Simone de Beauvoir, who urged that the similarities of the sexes called for policies of equality and integration (what united them was greater than what set them apart). This new wave discovered the feminine as a virtue, with maternity at its heart. Equality, the new wave claimed, would remain illusory so long as we failed to recognize this essential difference, which drives everything else. While de Beauvoir saw motherhood as incidental to women's lives and the source of their age-old oppression, the new generation of feminists claimed it as the crucial experience of womanhood, the basis on which women were equipped to build a fairer, more humane world. We were urged to return to Mother Nature, which had been too long overlooked. That return meant refocusing on the physiological differences as the source of behavioral differences, and rekindling our
pride in the nurturing role on which the well-being and future of humanity depends. In its emphasis on gender difference and a female “nature,” this new understanding of womanhood had a good many points in common with earlier models.
pride in the nurturing role on which the well-being and future of humanity depends. In its emphasis on gender difference and a female “nature,” this new understanding of womanhood had a good many points in common with earlier models.
From Biologism to Maternalism
In the early 1960s, Alice Rossi, a young professor of sociology and mother of three children, set a small cat among the pigeons.
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At a time when the ideology of good motherhood confined women to the home, she had the audacity to point out the absurdity of making child raising a full-time occupation. Then, almost fifteen years later, she published an article, “A Biosocial Perspective on Parenting,”
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which took up the same issue, but now she defended the idea that women had gone too far in rejecting their nurturing role. Convinced by the bonding theory and adopting a sociobiological approach, she argued that biology dictates a division of work between the sexes. Maternal instincts have been essential to our survival since our hunter-gatherer days; they are written in our genes, and we remain “genetically equipped only with an ancient mammalian primate heritage,” even if it had now become a set of, as she put it, “unlearned responses.” For this reason, she claimed, it is infinitely preferable for the mother rather than the father to invest time in raising a child. And this greater investment by the mother should
continue through the child's later stages of development, justifying the trend of returning women to the home.
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At a time when the ideology of good motherhood confined women to the home, she had the audacity to point out the absurdity of making child raising a full-time occupation. Then, almost fifteen years later, she published an article, “A Biosocial Perspective on Parenting,”
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which took up the same issue, but now she defended the idea that women had gone too far in rejecting their nurturing role. Convinced by the bonding theory and adopting a sociobiological approach, she argued that biology dictates a division of work between the sexes. Maternal instincts have been essential to our survival since our hunter-gatherer days; they are written in our genes, and we remain “genetically equipped only with an ancient mammalian primate heritage,” even if it had now become a set of, as she put it, “unlearned responses.” For this reason, she claimed, it is infinitely preferable for the mother rather than the father to invest time in raising a child. And this greater investment by the mother should
continue through the child's later stages of development, justifying the trend of returning women to the home.
Even though she was a founding member of the powerful pro-equality National Organization for Women, Alice Rossi's arguments made her one of the first to open a breach within feminism.
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Her article, putting biology and therefore motherhood back at the heart of women's issues, came just at the right time. The battle for women's rights had ground to a halt: feminism stood accused of having failed to redress the basic problem of sexual inequality. Some feminists concluded that they had been on the wrong track, having neglected to recognize the essential gender differences or taken them into account. In the struggle to be the equals of men, women had denied their very nature, succeeding only in becoming pale imitations of their masters. Women should, instead, be proud of their separate identity and exploit it as a political and moral weapon.
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Her article, putting biology and therefore motherhood back at the heart of women's issues, came just at the right time. The battle for women's rights had ground to a halt: feminism stood accused of having failed to redress the basic problem of sexual inequality. Some feminists concluded that they had been on the wrong track, having neglected to recognize the essential gender differences or taken them into account. In the struggle to be the equals of men, women had denied their very nature, succeeding only in becoming pale imitations of their masters. Women should, instead, be proud of their separate identity and exploit it as a political and moral weapon.
A new feminism emerged, foregrounding every aspect of women's biological experience. It glorified menstruation, pregnancy, and childbirth. The vulva came to represent woman.
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There was a powerful swing toward celebrating the sublime state of motherhood as women's true destiny, the condition for their happiness, and the source of their power. Through motherhood, it was hoped, a world damaged by men might once again flourish. On both sides of the Atlantic there was a great deal of enthusiasm for this new essentialism, celebrating as it did nature's primacy and
female qualities derived from the experience of motherhood. Maternalism formed the basis for a different concept of power and women's civic role. It also had the advantage of superseding the question of instinct, which always incited heated opposition.
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There was a powerful swing toward celebrating the sublime state of motherhood as women's true destiny, the condition for their happiness, and the source of their power. Through motherhood, it was hoped, a world damaged by men might once again flourish. On both sides of the Atlantic there was a great deal of enthusiasm for this new essentialism, celebrating as it did nature's primacy and
female qualities derived from the experience of motherhood. Maternalism formed the basis for a different concept of power and women's civic role. It also had the advantage of superseding the question of instinct, which always incited heated opposition.
The Philosophy of Care, or Women's Social Code
In 1871, Charles Darwin, who is hardly suspected of feminist sympathies, said, “Woman seems to differ from man in her greater tenderness and less selfishness. Woman owing to her maternal instincts, displays these qualities towards her infants in an eminent degree; therefore it is likely that she would often extend them toward her fellow creatures.”
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A century later, the feminist philosophy of care developed a more sophisticated version of Darwin's idea, with the subtle difference that mere likelihood for the nineteenth-century scholar had become indisputable truth.
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A century later, the feminist philosophy of care developed a more sophisticated version of Darwin's idea, with the subtle difference that mere likelihood for the nineteenth-century scholar had become indisputable truth.
With the 1982 publication of her book
In a Different Voice
, psychologist Carol Gilligan laid the foundations for a new ethic that caused a great uproar. To Gilligan, the word
care
means a fundamental concern for the well-being of others, and the quality is considered to derive from the crucial experience of motherhood. Supposedly, women are spontaneously sensitive to the needs of children and thus have allegedly developed heightened attentiveness to dependence
and vulnerability in other human beings. They therefore live by a different code than men.
In a Different Voice
, psychologist Carol Gilligan laid the foundations for a new ethic that caused a great uproar. To Gilligan, the word
care
means a fundamental concern for the well-being of others, and the quality is considered to derive from the crucial experience of motherhood. Supposedly, women are spontaneously sensitive to the needs of children and thus have allegedly developed heightened attentiveness to dependence
and vulnerability in other human beings. They therefore live by a different code than men.
Gilligan compared the feminine care ethic to the masculine ethic of justice. While justice refers to abstract universal principles that operate through impartially applied rules and rights, the ethic of care is particularist. It views the world as “comprised of relationships” and made coherent “through human connection rather than through systems of rules.”
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Freud, it should be remembered, angered generations of feminists with his assertion that “women must be regarded as having little sense of justice” and by his further claim that they have “less capacity for sublimating their instincts than men.”
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Deliberately engaging Freud's view, Gilligan argues that women's care and concern for others is in fact another form of morality, in no way inferior to man's. To Gilligan and others, womenâimmersed in the experience of life and concrete relationships, and better equipped to nurture connection and to protect rather than punishâbring to the human sphere a gentleness and compassion that revitalize social morals. Motherhoodâthus far seen as a private relationshipâshould therefore be viewed as one of two models in the public realm, as the counterweight to the abstract, rationalized society of men.
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Deliberately engaging Freud's view, Gilligan argues that women's care and concern for others is in fact another form of morality, in no way inferior to man's. To Gilligan and others, womenâimmersed in the experience of life and concrete relationships, and better equipped to nurture connection and to protect rather than punishâbring to the human sphere a gentleness and compassion that revitalize social morals. Motherhoodâthus far seen as a private relationshipâshould therefore be viewed as one of two models in the public realm, as the counterweight to the abstract, rationalized society of men.
In France, Antoinette Fouque went well beyond Carol Gilligan's more subtle ideas. She claimed women's moral superiority by virtue of their ability to carry a baby: “A
woman's pregnancy, gestation, is the only natural incidence of physicalâand therefore psychologicalâacceptance of a foreign body,” she declared, complementing this idea with a memorable claim:
woman's pregnancy, gestation, is the only natural incidence of physicalâand therefore psychologicalâacceptance of a foreign body,” she declared, complementing this idea with a memorable claim:
Gestation as generation, gesture and an internal experience, an intimate experience but also generosity, the genius of our species, accepting a foreign body, hospitality, openness, a willingness to accept this regenerative graft; gestation as integrationist, non-conflictual, unambivalent to differences, a model of anthropomorphic culture, a matrix for the universality of the human being, the very principle and origin of ethics.
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An approach that makes biology the source of all virtue condemns, in one sweep, all men as well as women who have not had children. The implications of such an extreme form of naturalism should prompt nothing but laughter, but in fact they are far from insignificant. And the reason this is so is because naturalism has forged a kind of consensus in our postmodern society.
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Despite the unremitting criticism of maternalism by French feminist historians, its revival is in the process of becoming one of our society's dominant ideologies.
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Despite the unremitting criticism of maternalism by French feminist historians, its revival is in the process of becoming one of our society's dominant ideologies.
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The radical shift in the three fields involvedâecology, biological science, and feminismâconcerns a tiny minority of people, principally intellectuals and militant activists. But
it is no coincidence that the ideological embrace of naturalism has occurred in all three at the same time. And although most new mothers would probably not recognize themselves in any of the more radical depictions of naturalist motherhood, they are nonetheless influenced by the trend. Nature has become a decisive argument for imposing laws or dispensing advice. It is now an ethical touchstone, hard to criticize and overwhelming all other considerations.
it is no coincidence that the ideological embrace of naturalism has occurred in all three at the same time. And although most new mothers would probably not recognize themselves in any of the more radical depictions of naturalist motherhood, they are nonetheless influenced by the trend. Nature has become a decisive argument for imposing laws or dispensing advice. It is now an ethical touchstone, hard to criticize and overwhelming all other considerations.
And like its predecessor, the new naturalism has the ability to generate feelings of guilt that can drive changes in attitudes. In the eighteenth century, Rousseau, along with doctors and moral philosophers, knew just how to manipulate women to devote themselves entirely to their children, to breast-feed them, care for and raise them. Children's survival depended on it, as did family and social happiness, and even the strength of the nation. Today the arguments have changed somewhat. In societies where infant mortality is at its lowest, no one invokes a child's survival as the imperative for a mother's care, but rather his physical and psychological health, critical as it is to his adult well-being and to general social harmony. Given these stakes, what mother would not feel at least a twinge of guilt for failing to follow the wisdom of nature?
MOTHERS, YOU OWE THEM EVERYTHING!
Choosing to have a child means taking responsibility for that child. Mothers with high ideals of child rearing must pay the price for those ideals. But that price has become ever higher, since we began, during the 1980s, to understand the complexities of children's development and their previously unsuspected needs. A baby is a creature with abilities and requirements that deserve respect, an individual wanting attention and interaction with the person taking care of him or her. Child psychiatrists and pediatricians have taught mothers, via the media, that they must communicate with their babies from birth, decipher their crying, their facial expressions, and their movements.
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Mothers must be hyper-attentive, aware of how to understand and stimulate their babies. As one historian of motherhood explained:
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Mothers must be hyper-attentive, aware of how to understand and stimulate their babies. As one historian of motherhood explained:
After the lively, daring freedom of the 1970s, the 1980s brought new norms ⦠. Infants are not without sense; they are able to understand everything. We must talk to them as we would to adults, explain what is about to happen to them, “give words to” what they do, consult them (if only for the sake of form) when we're going to take them for a walk or put them to bed. No more initiating potty-training: they will decide for themselves when they are ready. No thwarting their desires, lest we traumatize them or make them insecure. We must let them express themselves, do whatever they like. Even if they seem like tyrants ⦠. A mother's job has become overwhelming, against a background of anxiety and worry.
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A mother's responsibilities begin at the moment the child is conceived. From that point on, she is strenuously discouraged from smoking a single cigarette (or a joint) or from drinking a drop of alcohol. Over the last several years, the warnings have grown ever more terrifying and categorical. In France, the 2004
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Pregnancy and Tobacco conference highlighted the fact that a third of women of childbearing age continued to smoke. Nearly 15 percent of pregnant women carried on smoking into the third trimester of pregnancy, even though there were multiple
risks: delayed intrauterine growth, retroplacental clots, extrauterine pregnancies. Smoking constituted one of the primary causes of premature births and the risk of asphyxia in newborns.
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Pregnancy and Tobacco conference highlighted the fact that a third of women of childbearing age continued to smoke. Nearly 15 percent of pregnant women carried on smoking into the third trimester of pregnancy, even though there were multiple
risks: delayed intrauterine growth, retroplacental clots, extrauterine pregnancies. Smoking constituted one of the primary causes of premature births and the risk of asphyxia in newborns.
In light of these statistics, the National Academy of Medicine sounded the alarm andâas with alcoholâadvocated zero tolerance, not a single puff.
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Two years later, in the absence of any change in the numbers, Professor Michel Delcroix, director of Motherhood Without Smoking, an advocacy group, resumed a full-bore attack. Citing the “right of the fetus to be a non-smoker,”
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he reminded irresponsible women that “the oxygenation deficit produced by inhaling carbon monoxide in tobacco or cannabis smoke is the primary toxic cause responsible for cellular lesions in the developing nervous system and can, in some cases, give rise to cerebral palsy and mental retardation.”
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Two years later, in the absence of any change in the numbers, Professor Michel Delcroix, director of Motherhood Without Smoking, an advocacy group, resumed a full-bore attack. Citing the “right of the fetus to be a non-smoker,”
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he reminded irresponsible women that “the oxygenation deficit produced by inhaling carbon monoxide in tobacco or cannabis smoke is the primary toxic cause responsible for cellular lesions in the developing nervous system and can, in some cases, give rise to cerebral palsy and mental retardation.”
American studies went further, showing that it was not enough for mothers to give up smoking while pregnantâcigarettes constitute a threat in any place where children live. Dr. Jonathan Winickoff looked at the behavior of people in relation to “thirdhand smoking.”
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Parents who believe they are protecting their children by ventilating a room in which they have smoked have it wrong, he noted. The fact that the smoke has dispersed does not mean the health risks have, too. Residues of burnt tobacco embedded in windows, carpets, and furniture are just as harmful.
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Parents who believe they are protecting their children by ventilating a room in which they have smoked have it wrong, he noted. The fact that the smoke has dispersed does not mean the health risks have, too. Residues of burnt tobacco embedded in windows, carpets, and furniture are just as harmful.
The toxicity of low levels of tobacco smoke constituents has been proved. According to the National Toxicology Program, these 250 poisonous gases, chemicals, and metals include hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, butane, ammonia, toluene, arsenic, lead, chromium, cadmium, and polonium-210. Eleven of these compounds are group 1 carcinogens ⦠. Research has documented the association between smoking in the home and persistently high levels of tobacco toxins well beyond the period of active smoking.
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The alarm raised over the toxicity of smoking has succeeded in eliminating the possibility of moderationâof use and of discourse.
Alcohol suffered the same radical condemnation. The French National Institute for Prevention and Health Education (INPES) made an earnest plea to women to drink no alcohol during pregnancy,
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from the moment of conception. INPES tells us:
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from the moment of conception. INPES tells us:
Even limited and moderate consumption is not without harm and can entail significant risks for the unborn child ⦠. When a pregnant woman has a drink, there is soon as much alcohol in her baby's bloodstream as in her own ⦠. Alcohol can have dire effects on the fetal central nervous system ⦠. Drinking alcohol every day, however little ⦠has the potential to give rise to complications
during the pregnancy ⦠as well as psychological or behavioral problems in the [exposed] child, such as learning difficulties and problems with memory, concentration and attention span.
during the pregnancy ⦠as well as psychological or behavioral problems in the [exposed] child, such as learning difficulties and problems with memory, concentration and attention span.
Beware the woman who takes even a small glass of champagne at a birthday party. “This recommendation applies to all incidences of drinking, regular, occasional, or celebratory.”
What is notable in the responses to these findings is the absolutism, which is then easily applied to other spheres of motherhood. There are of course some women who have never smoked a cigarette or touched a glass of wine and who heartily approve of these injunctions. And there are others who refuse to give up their degenerate behavior.
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But most proceed with due respect for the principle of precaution. This measured response renders the extreme injunctions all the more outlandish. In Ãliette Abécassis's description, being pregnant seems not unlike taking the vows of a nun:
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But most proceed with due respect for the principle of precaution. This measured response renders the extreme injunctions all the more outlandish. In Ãliette Abécassis's description, being pregnant seems not unlike taking the vows of a nun:
For me, the hardest thing was to stop drinking. All of a sudden, my partner was scrutinizing how much I drank. I couldn't take even the tiniest drop of alcohol without feeling terribly guilty. No more wild laughter, no more of the flights of freedom that come with drinking or that wonderful weightlessness after the third glass of champagne ⦠. I tried replacing alcohol with something elseâCanada Dry, non-alcoholic beer, carrot juice but no, nothing was the
same. The basic imperative hit me with the force of a guillotine: I belonged to someone other than myself.
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same. The basic imperative hit me with the force of a guillotine: I belonged to someone other than myself.
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Here, pregnancy signals the end of pleasure, freedom, and the carefree life of non-mothers. Like a postulant taking the veil, the future mother no longer belongs to herself. Her worldly life has come to an end, something only God and a baby have the power to achieve. The final image of the guillotine could not be more eloquent. We have come a long, long way from the 1970s, when pregnancy was something to be enjoyed.
At the heart of the revolution in motherhood that we have seen unfold since the 1980s lies breast-feeding. Slowly but surely, nursing has won more and more supporters in the West. It has become a defining feature in a philosophy in which motherhood determines women's status and their role in society. By the 1970s, nursing had been largely abandoned in favor of bottle-feeding, which allowed mothers to continue working after childbirth; only a small minority of women carried on breast-feeding. The reversal of this tendency is largely due to the successful strategies and militancy of an association formed by American mothers, the La Leche League,
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whose story is truly remarkable.
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whose story is truly remarkable.
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It all began with a picnic in a Chicago suburb in the
summer of 1956. Two mothers, Mary White and Marian Thompson, were sitting under a tree and breast-feeding their babies. Some other women came over to express their admiration, because they themselves had found breast-feeding so difficult. To Mary and Marian, the practice was the epitome of womanliness and should be possible for all mothers. Along with five like-minded friends, they began the La Leche League (LLL) to help, “mother to mother,” women who wanted to breast-feed but were discouraged by fear or difficulty. The seven founding members were Catholic and active members of the Christian Family Movement, known for its traditionalist views. They took inspiration from its model of small discussion groups offering their members mutual support.
summer of 1956. Two mothers, Mary White and Marian Thompson, were sitting under a tree and breast-feeding their babies. Some other women came over to express their admiration, because they themselves had found breast-feeding so difficult. To Mary and Marian, the practice was the epitome of womanliness and should be possible for all mothers. Along with five like-minded friends, they began the La Leche League (LLL) to help, “mother to mother,” women who wanted to breast-feed but were discouraged by fear or difficulty. The seven founding members were Catholic and active members of the Christian Family Movement, known for its traditionalist views. They took inspiration from its model of small discussion groups offering their members mutual support.
The first meeting took place in Mary White's living room in October 1956. Every three weeks, mothers came together to talk about the advantages of breast-feeding, share advice, and help each other succeed. LLL meetings were so popular that more and more groups were set up, spreading throughout the United States: 43 groups in 1961; 1,260 in 1971; nearly 3,000 in 1976. There were 17,000 group leaders by 1981, as the breast-feeding rate in the United States rose from 38 percent in the late-1940s to 60 percent in the mid-1980s. The group leaders were given training and kept up-to-date with developments in scientific research on breast-feeding. As early as 1958, LLL published its celebrated book,
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
, which made the group's arguments and became the breast-feeding bible. By 1990, it
had sold more than 2 million copies. The league's ambitions did not stop with the United States; the organization flourished internationally, its success due to both its admirable political shrewdness and a larger ideological shift.
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
, which made the group's arguments and became the breast-feeding bible. By 1990, it
had sold more than 2 million copies. The league's ambitions did not stop with the United States; the organization flourished internationally, its success due to both its admirable political shrewdness and a larger ideological shift.
An Ideological Crusade
The league's crusade relies on two clear principles. First, a good mother naturally puts her child's needs before everything else. Second, these needs are fixed by nature and we have come to understand them better over time.
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Having adopted these principles, the LLL articulated four major themes: the moral authority of nature, the advantages of breast-feeding, the superior status of the mother, and her essential role in the moral reform of society. Although the last two, being more political and polemical, were mostly downplayed, they seem to reveal a great deal about the league's purpose.
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Having adopted these principles, the LLL articulated four major themes: the moral authority of nature, the advantages of breast-feeding, the superior status of the mother, and her essential role in the moral reform of society. Although the last two, being more political and polemical, were mostly downplayed, they seem to reveal a great deal about the league's purpose.
Nature's authority is indisputable. It derives its legitimacy from its “innate, essential, eternal, non-negotiable” character.
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As Canadian sociologist Glenda Wall has noted, since the 1980s, breast-feeding has been regarded as sacred, an act of purity, innocence, and wisdom. The league's founders see it as a symbol of simplicity in our industrial and scientific age. What could be simpler and purer than breast-feeding? The first statement of the league's principles notes, “Mothering through breast-feeding is the most natural and effective way of understanding and satisfying the needs of the baby.”
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Breast-feeding brings mothers closer to their children and reawakes their maternal instincts, which have been stifled as much by medicine and science as by individualism and modern consumerism. With the chiding tone of Plutarch, who upbraided Roman women for not wanting to nurse their children, mothers are reminded that their breasts belong first and foremost to their babies and were created for feeding.
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As Canadian sociologist Glenda Wall has noted, since the 1980s, breast-feeding has been regarded as sacred, an act of purity, innocence, and wisdom. The league's founders see it as a symbol of simplicity in our industrial and scientific age. What could be simpler and purer than breast-feeding? The first statement of the league's principles notes, “Mothering through breast-feeding is the most natural and effective way of understanding and satisfying the needs of the baby.”
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Breast-feeding brings mothers closer to their children and reawakes their maternal instincts, which have been stifled as much by medicine and science as by individualism and modern consumerism. With the chiding tone of Plutarch, who upbraided Roman women for not wanting to nurse their children, mothers are reminded that their breasts belong first and foremost to their babies and were created for feeding.
The league's founders developed the second theme, the advantages of breast-feeding, at length. Indeed, the list of advantages grows longer with every year and every newâand always scientificâstudy. The physical and psychological benefits for the baby have long been known: a mother's milk is perfectly adapted to the child's digestive system and development needs; it reinforces natural immunities and reduces the risk of allergies. The LLL pleads in favor of prolonged breast-feeding as good for the baby's health and its relationship with the mother. It is up to the child, not doctors, to decide when he or she wants to be weaned. The ideal is on-demand feeding, for as long as the child wants. And for the mother, the advantages are no less: not only does breast-feeding help her quickly recover physically from giving birth and offer natural contraception, it also protects her from breast cancer and, perhaps still more important, makes her grow “as a human being.”
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In the last five decades an impressive number of advantages has been added to the original list. For the baby: a reduction in the prevalence and severity of many infectious
illnesses (bacterial meningitis, bacterial infections, diarrhea, urinary tract infections, and septicemia in premature babies).
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Some studies claim that breast-feeding reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, type 1 and 2 diabetes, lymphoma, leukemia, childhood Hodgkin's disease, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, asthma, even multiple sclerosis. Others have tried to demonstrate that breast-fed children show better cognitive development. The benefits to the mother have grown as well: a better relationship with the child, as well as prevention of postnatal depression, hemorrhages, infections, anemia, andâmost notablyâovarian cancer and osteoporosis. And, the cherry on the cake: breast-feeding speeds the mother's return to her pre-pregnancy weight.
illnesses (bacterial meningitis, bacterial infections, diarrhea, urinary tract infections, and septicemia in premature babies).
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Some studies claim that breast-feeding reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, type 1 and 2 diabetes, lymphoma, leukemia, childhood Hodgkin's disease, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, asthma, even multiple sclerosis. Others have tried to demonstrate that breast-fed children show better cognitive development. The benefits to the mother have grown as well: a better relationship with the child, as well as prevention of postnatal depression, hemorrhages, infections, anemia, andâmost notablyâovarian cancer and osteoporosis. And, the cherry on the cake: breast-feeding speeds the mother's return to her pre-pregnancy weight.
Some of these advantagesâenhanced immunity, for exampleâare proven, on condition that breast-feeding continues for three to six months. Others are not. To date, the Society of French Pediatrics has published the most objective report on the subject,
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pointing out areas of uncertainty and bias. The assertion that mother's milk is superior for the child's intellectual development has proved unfounded. Researchers, it seems, failed to adequately account for the mother's social, economic, family, and cultural circumstances.
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pointing out areas of uncertainty and bias. The assertion that mother's milk is superior for the child's intellectual development has proved unfounded. Researchers, it seems, failed to adequately account for the mother's social, economic, family, and cultural circumstances.
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In the last fifteen years or so, two new kinds of arguments have appeared in pro-breast-feeding literature, one economic, the other ecological. In 1994, pediatrician Pierre Bitoun calculated the cost of “artificial” feeding at 4,640 French francs per
child in the first year, approximately $800 at the time.
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To reach this result, the author calculated the cost of formula for the first twelve months, along with the cost of equipment (bottles, sterilizer, etc.), water, and electricity. Add to that the medical savings associated with illnesses that are “avoidable” through breast-feeding, as well as the cost of contraception for the first six months, and we come to the overall figure of approximately $2,000.
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The second argument points to the ecological benefits of breast-feeding, which saves on fuel and resources: water for the formula and washing the bottles; energy to heat the formula; the metal, plastic, and paper for the cans of formula; the energy required to transform cow's milk into formula.
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child in the first year, approximately $800 at the time.
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To reach this result, the author calculated the cost of formula for the first twelve months, along with the cost of equipment (bottles, sterilizer, etc.), water, and electricity. Add to that the medical savings associated with illnesses that are “avoidable” through breast-feeding, as well as the cost of contraception for the first six months, and we come to the overall figure of approximately $2,000.
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The second argument points to the ecological benefits of breast-feeding, which saves on fuel and resources: water for the formula and washing the bottles; energy to heat the formula; the metal, plastic, and paper for the cans of formula; the energy required to transform cow's milk into formula.
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The conclusion is irrefutable: a good mother breast-feeds. To make this crystal clear, the league articulated the ten fundamental points of its philosophy.
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1.
Mothering through breastfeeding is the most natural and effective way of understanding and satisfying the needs of the baby.
Mothering through breastfeeding is the most natural and effective way of understanding and satisfying the needs of the baby.
2.
Mother and baby need to be together early and often to establish a satisfying relationship and an adequate milk supply.
Mother and baby need to be together early and often to establish a satisfying relationship and an adequate milk supply.
3.
In the early years, the baby has an intense need to be with his mother which is as basic as his need for food.
In the early years, the baby has an intense need to be with his mother which is as basic as his need for food.
4.
Breast milk is the superior infant food.
Breast milk is the superior infant food.
5.
For the healthy, full-term baby, breast milk is the only
food necessary until baby shows signs of needing solids, about the middle of the first year after birth.
For the healthy, full-term baby, breast milk is the only
food necessary until baby shows signs of needing solids, about the middle of the first year after birth.
6.
Ideally the breastfeeding relationship will continue until the baby outgrows the need.
Ideally the breastfeeding relationship will continue until the baby outgrows the need.
7.
Alert and active participation by the mother in childbirth is a help in getting breastfeeding off to a good start.
Alert and active participation by the mother in childbirth is a help in getting breastfeeding off to a good start.
8.
Breastfeeding is enhanced and the nursing couple sustained by the loving support, help and companionship of the baby's father.
Breastfeeding is enhanced and the nursing couple sustained by the loving support, help and companionship of the baby's father.
9.
Good nutrition means eating a well-balanced and varied diet of foods in as close to their natural state as possible.
Good nutrition means eating a well-balanced and varied diet of foods in as close to their natural state as possible.
10.
From infancy on, children need loving guidance which reflects acceptance of their capabilities and sensitivity to their feelings.
From infancy on, children need loving guidance which reflects acceptance of their capabilities and sensitivity to their feelings.
Today, these ten statements have evolved into The Ten Commandments of Breastfeeding, which appear on the Alternamoms website and are biblical in form and tone.
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Rules and advice have been supplanted by sacred law, each one requiring commentary:
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Rules and advice have been supplanted by sacred law, each one requiring commentary:
I AM THE MILK OF YOUR BREASTS, YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER FORM OF INFANT NUTRITION IN YOUR HOUSE. Free formula samples are very tempting, especially when that two week growth spurt hits. But they have a price tagâfor every bottle of formula your child drinks, your milk supply will dwindle. When the case of formula arrives,
ship it off to the nearest food pantry. Don't let it remain in your house.
ship it off to the nearest food pantry. Don't let it remain in your house.
YOU WILL HAVE NO ARTIFICIAL VERSIONS OF MY SHAPE, NOT IN LATEX OR SILICONE, NOT ATTACHED TO A PLASTIC DISC OR A BOTTLE. No pacifiers, no bottles of water, and no bottles of formula. If baby wants to suck, offer your breast. S/he is quite possibly going through a growth spurt and is trying to increase your supply.
YOU WILL CONTACT LA LECHE LEAGUE IN YOUR THIRD TRIMESTER AND ATTEND MEETINGS, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN OTHER WOMEN NURSE THEIR CHILDREN. Watch other women who are nursing their children with great interest, and ask questions, even if they sound silly and dumb. Most moms today were not lucky to see their mothers nurseâif you haven't seen women actually breastfeed, make sure you go to an LLL meeting. Nursing is an art, and you can't always pick it up by just reading a book.
YOU WILL SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PROFESSIONALS WHO ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT HUMAN LACTATION, FROM THE MOMENT YOU GIVE BIRTH. If you are giving birth in a hospital, see what their policies about artificial nipples/pacifiers are before you go. There are still nurses out there who think nipple confusion is a myth. The best cure for this is rooming-in. Or not going to the hospital at all. Also, make sure your child's doctor is well-informed about breastfeeding.
YOU SHALL NOT GIVE UP. Not in two days, not in two weeks, not in two months. If your nipples are sore, find some help before they start bleeding and cracking. If you don't think the baby is getting enough, count wet and soiled diapers. If your baby is nursing and nursing and nursing with no end in sight, find something good on the television and let that baby nurse! Feeding a baby formula is NOT easier!
YOU SHALL NOT LISTEN TO THOSE WHO SAY YOU CANNOT BREASTFEED, OR THAT YOU ARE BREAST-FEEDING TOO LONG, OR TOO OFTEN, OR TOO MUCH. Ignore your well-meaning but ignorant mother-in-law who tells you that the baby would be sleeping through the night by now if s/he was on formula. Don't pay attention to your mother who says that if you breastfeed no one else will be able to feed the baby, so you should feed formula ⦠.
YOU SHALL NOT WEAN YOUR CHILDREN FOR THE SAKE OF CONVENIENCE. Research has shown that children are biologically meant to be weaned somewhere between the ages of 3
1/2
and 7.
1/2
and 7.
YOU SHALL NOT ALLOW OTHERS TO PASS ON MISINFORMATION ABOUT BREASTFEEDING, HUMAN LACTATION, THE NEEDS OF BABIES AND EXTENDED NURSING. This includes doctors, books at the bookstore, your relatives, people on the Internet, and anyone else who doesn't have the facts straight.
YOU SHALL NOT REMAIN SILENT. Support nursing mothers whenever and wherever you see them, even if it is
only with a kind word and a knowing smile. If you see an expecting mother, strike up a casual conversation. Make sure she knows the facts, or at least that there's a LLL group in your area. If you're nursing your child in public and someone comments, use that as an opportunity to educate that person. Other children are fascinated by nursing babiesâand are at the best age to make a lasting positive impression. If you can't help with this generation, you can help with the next.
only with a kind word and a knowing smile. If you see an expecting mother, strike up a casual conversation. Make sure she knows the facts, or at least that there's a LLL group in your area. If you're nursing your child in public and someone comments, use that as an opportunity to educate that person. Other children are fascinated by nursing babiesâand are at the best age to make a lasting positive impression. If you can't help with this generation, you can help with the next.
The league's supporters have clearly declared war on bottles and formula, and implicitly on mothers returning to work.
25
A mother who breast-feeds on demand is a full-time mother, which is why the LLL has always encouraged its followers to stay at home.
25
A mother who breast-feeds on demand is a full-time mother, which is why the LLL has always encouraged its followers to stay at home.
In the 1981 edition of
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
, the only justification for mothers working is financial necessity. Group leaders not encourage mothers to return to work. Most of them do not work outside the home.
26
The obvious result is that breast-feeding rates are higher among professional, well-paid women than blue-collar and office workers.
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
, the only justification for mothers working is financial necessity. Group leaders not encourage mothers to return to work. Most of them do not work outside the home.
26
The obvious result is that breast-feeding rates are higher among professional, well-paid women than blue-collar and office workers.
To maintain the strength of its influence, the LLL eventually softened its position, adding a chapter to the book in 1987 that aimed to help women breast-feed even after their return to work. It recommends using a breast pump, which enables the mother to collect the precious milk and refrigerate it to be consumed in her absence. But this is only a limited
solution to the difficulties facing working mothers, not least because many women find pumping repulsive. More important, it does not resolve the essential problem of child care.
solution to the difficulties facing working mothers, not least because many women find pumping repulsive. More important, it does not resolve the essential problem of child care.
Finding someone capable and trustworthy with whom to leave a child is both difficult and expensive. Mothers are strenuously advised not to use day-care centers for babies under one year. Edwige Antier, a faithful LLL activist, never misses an opportunity to discourage mothers from resorting to day care. “When it's time for her to entrust her baby to this noisy and fairly anonymous world ⦠the mother cries.”
27
“As soon as the baby goes to day care, he catches all the other children's viruses, colds, bronchiolitis, etc. If he falls ill frequently and is often prescribed antibiotics, an alternative to community child care must be found.”
28
And finally, this startling question: “Aren't we killing our babies by taking them away from their mothers too soon?”
29
27
“As soon as the baby goes to day care, he catches all the other children's viruses, colds, bronchiolitis, etc. If he falls ill frequently and is often prescribed antibiotics, an alternative to community child care must be found.”
28
And finally, this startling question: “Aren't we killing our babies by taking them away from their mothers too soon?”
29
Clearly, under these circumstances, the best solution for both mother and baby is for women to stay at home. To convince them to do so, the value of motherhood needs to be elevated, which has been done successfully in the past.
30
This ties into the LLL's fourth theme, moral reform: mothers who breast-feed and stay at home have a significant social role to play. The well-adjusted development of their children will benefit all society. Breast-feeding is the perfect foundation for a good relationship between parent and child; it thus reinforces family ties and promotes social cohesion. The mission of breast-feeding mothers is nothing less than far-reaching
civic reform: “Every mother who breastfeeds her baby is a key player in social change,”
31
promises the league. Could any duty be more urgent?
30
This ties into the LLL's fourth theme, moral reform: mothers who breast-feed and stay at home have a significant social role to play. The well-adjusted development of their children will benefit all society. Breast-feeding is the perfect foundation for a good relationship between parent and child; it thus reinforces family ties and promotes social cohesion. The mission of breast-feeding mothers is nothing less than far-reaching
civic reform: “Every mother who breastfeeds her baby is a key player in social change,”
31
promises the league. Could any duty be more urgent?
Inevitably, women who do not heed the call feel guilty. Mothers who choose to bottle-feed will not form the same physical attachment to their babies as mothers who nurse. Gregory White, husband of one of the league's founders, a doctor, said that a woman who bottle-fed was “handicapped. She may turn out to be a pretty good mother, but she could have been a lot better mother if she had breast-fed.”
32
More recently, the league has called for the shaming of women who do not breast-feed, as with mothers who smoke or drink: “Doctors have no hesitation whatsoever about making parents feel guilty about not using a car seat ⦠by contrast, breastfeeding is often treated as a choice.”
33
But it is notâit is a duty to protect the baby from the “harm caused by artificial baby milk.”
32
More recently, the league has called for the shaming of women who do not breast-feed, as with mothers who smoke or drink: “Doctors have no hesitation whatsoever about making parents feel guilty about not using a car seat ⦠by contrast, breastfeeding is often treated as a choice.”
33
But it is notâit is a duty to protect the baby from the “harm caused by artificial baby milk.”
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