Abstract
The only way to combat this stigma against public breastfeeding is through the act of breastfeeding in public. The author proposes that breastfeeding is a powerful act of symbolic speech vital for discarding one of the lingering shackles of women's inequality that triggers first amendment protection. Breastfeeding in public addresses this stigma by treating two ills at once: 1) greater public exposure to the practice decreases the severity of society's reactions, and 2) the less stares and confrontation that publicly nursing mothers receive, the more likely they will be to breastfeed, whenever or wherever their baby is hungry. This will have an impact not only on the number of mothers that even attempt to breastfeed, but also, on the number of mothers that are able to make it to the American Pediatrics Association's recommended 1 year.
Recommended Citation
Elizabeth H. Matherne,
The Lactating Angel or Activist? Public Breatsfeeding as Symbolic Speech,
15
Mich. J. Gender & L.
121
(2008).
Available at:
https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjgl/vol15/iss1/3