Is breast really best? Breastfeeding is widely assumed to be the healthiest choice, yet growing evidence suggests that its benefits have been greatly exaggerated. New moms are pressured by doctors, health officials, and friends to avoid the bottle at all costs,often at the expense of their jobs, their pocketbooks, and their well-being.In Lactivism , political scientist Courtney Jung offers the most deeply researched and far-reaching critique of breastfeeding advocacy to date. Drawing on her own experience as a devoted mother who breastfed her two children and her expertise as a social scientist, Jung investigates the benefits of breastfeeding and asks why so many people across the political spectrum are passionately invested in promoting it, even as its health benefits have been persuasively challenged. What emerges is an eye-opening story about class and race in America, the big business of breastfeeding, and the fraught politics of contemporary motherhood.
- ISBN10 0465039693
- ISBN13 9780465039692
- Publish Date 24 November 2015
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 5 March 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Basic Books
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 272
- Language English