Breast Feeding Survelliance

The video below highlights a newly emerging area within the Family and Households unit regarding surveillance. As we have entered a postmodern world new, social controls have been implemented to ensure the values and norms within society remain constant. Surveillance enabled these norms and values to be maintained by oppressing and reprimanding those who do not adhere to them. An example being mothers as they encounter pressure from every direction and are constantly under scrutiny. This is something which Henderson (2010) identifies and supports by stating other mothers now act as a surveillance and social control over other mothers by judging what they feed their kids and how their discipline them.

In the classroom, I would use this video as a starting off point for discussion as the debate around breast feeding and its benefits for babies is hotly contested in the press. There is lots of powerful imagery available which can be used alongside this from Project Breastfeeding – which starts to challenge the idea that men may prefer that mothers breast feed because if the man could then they would.

Ultimately, leading to the criticisms of this approach clearly linking to feminism as women are again being subjected to an intense amount of pressure. This can begin to impact whether a woman would go to work as she would feel inadequate if unable to perform and adhere to these societal pressures.

ATTN: Laura Perlongo on Why We Shouldn't Judge Moms Who Don't Breastfeed