Getting the Green Light: Experiences of Icelandic Mothers Struggling with Breastfeeding
The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, with continued breastfeeding up to two years of age or beyond. This policy has been adopted by the Nordic countries, including Iceland, where there has been an upward trend towards higher breastfeeding...
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ftjepress:oai:epress.ac.uk:SRO-2016-108-2 2023-05-15T16:48:45+02:00 Getting the Green Light: Experiences of Icelandic Mothers Struggling with Breastfeeding SÃmonardóttir, Sunna Sociological Research Online ISSN 1360-7804 Dept. of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, United Kingdom 2016-11-30 text/plain http://www.socresonline.org.uk/21/4/1.html en eng http://www.epress.ac.uk http://www.socresonline.org.uk http://www.socresonline.org.uk/21/4/1.html http://www.socresonline.org.uk/copyright.html Breastfeeding Motherhood Parenting Culture Scientific Discourses the Body Text 2016 ftjepress 2021-03-17T18:34:19Z The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, with continued breastfeeding up to two years of age or beyond. This policy has been adopted by the Nordic countries, including Iceland, where there has been an upward trend towards higher breastfeeding rates and duration. The high breastfeeding rates in Iceland indicate that the idea that all women should breastfeed is culturally very strong. Exclusive breastfeeding is constructed as a pillar of successful bonding and absolutely paramount when it comes to promoting the close primary relationship between mother and child. Previous research on breastfeeding from a socio-cultural point of view remains very much rooted in an Anglo-American context and has mostly been conducted in countries where breastfeeding rates remain relatively low and the cultural context of breastfeeding similar. This paper addresses that particular knowledge gap by making visible the identity work that Icelandic mothers perform in order to be able to construct themselves as “good†responsible mothers and how dominant biomedical discourses on infant feeding and ʹgood motheringʹ discursively position women as powerless and unable to make decisions on breastfeeding cessation. The reaction that they experience from their immediate surroundings indicates that their ʹfailuresʹ in breastfeeding can rarely be constructed as anything other than a personal shortcoming. Whilst the surveillance that they come to expect from other mothers and the general public results in them having to account for their ʹlackʹ of breastfeeding in order to avert the hostile gaze of others. Text Iceland epress - Electronic Publishing Resource Service Pillar ENVELOPE(166.217,166.217,-77.583,-77.583) |
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epress - Electronic Publishing Resource Service |
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English |
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Breastfeeding Motherhood Parenting Culture Scientific Discourses the Body |
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Breastfeeding Motherhood Parenting Culture Scientific Discourses the Body SÃmonardóttir, Sunna Getting the Green Light: Experiences of Icelandic Mothers Struggling with Breastfeeding |
topic_facet |
Breastfeeding Motherhood Parenting Culture Scientific Discourses the Body |
description |
The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, with continued breastfeeding up to two years of age or beyond. This policy has been adopted by the Nordic countries, including Iceland, where there has been an upward trend towards higher breastfeeding rates and duration. The high breastfeeding rates in Iceland indicate that the idea that all women should breastfeed is culturally very strong. Exclusive breastfeeding is constructed as a pillar of successful bonding and absolutely paramount when it comes to promoting the close primary relationship between mother and child. Previous research on breastfeeding from a socio-cultural point of view remains very much rooted in an Anglo-American context and has mostly been conducted in countries where breastfeeding rates remain relatively low and the cultural context of breastfeeding similar. This paper addresses that particular knowledge gap by making visible the identity work that Icelandic mothers perform in order to be able to construct themselves as “good†responsible mothers and how dominant biomedical discourses on infant feeding and ʹgood motheringʹ discursively position women as powerless and unable to make decisions on breastfeeding cessation. The reaction that they experience from their immediate surroundings indicates that their ʹfailuresʹ in breastfeeding can rarely be constructed as anything other than a personal shortcoming. Whilst the surveillance that they come to expect from other mothers and the general public results in them having to account for their ʹlackʹ of breastfeeding in order to avert the hostile gaze of others. |
author2 |
Sociological Research Online ISSN 1360-7804 |
format |
Text |
author |
SÃmonardóttir, Sunna |
author_facet |
SÃmonardóttir, Sunna |
author_sort |
SÃmonardóttir, Sunna |
title |
Getting the Green Light: Experiences of Icelandic Mothers Struggling with Breastfeeding |
title_short |
Getting the Green Light: Experiences of Icelandic Mothers Struggling with Breastfeeding |
title_full |
Getting the Green Light: Experiences of Icelandic Mothers Struggling with Breastfeeding |
title_fullStr |
Getting the Green Light: Experiences of Icelandic Mothers Struggling with Breastfeeding |
title_full_unstemmed |
Getting the Green Light: Experiences of Icelandic Mothers Struggling with Breastfeeding |
title_sort |
getting the green light: experiences of icelandic mothers struggling with breastfeeding |
publisher |
http://www.epress.ac.uk |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://www.socresonline.org.uk/21/4/1.html |
op_coverage |
Dept. of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, United Kingdom |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(166.217,166.217,-77.583,-77.583) |
geographic |
Pillar |
geographic_facet |
Pillar |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
http://www.socresonline.org.uk http://www.socresonline.org.uk/21/4/1.html |
op_rights |
http://www.socresonline.org.uk/copyright.html |
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1766038853481660416 |