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BREASTFEEDING AND FEMINISM SYMPOSIUM HISTORY
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The first Breast Feeding Symposium was held at UNCG in 2005 (read about the 2005 Breast Feeding Symposium). The 2009 conference will be the 4th symposium which is scheduled for March 26 & 27, 2009. Information is now availabe for the 4th Breastfeeding and Feminism Symposium (click here)
The Breastfeeding and Feminism Symposium is designed to bring together scholars, advocates, practitioners and policymakers interested in
- Breastfeeding
- Women’s rights at home and at work
- Reproductive health and rights
- Family planning and child health
We will explore these issues to determine potential synergy and enhance coalitions and identify collaborative actions around breastfeeding and women’s rights.
Although arguments about motherhood, work, and gender differences have been central to feminist thought, feminist theory has historically had little to say about breastfeeding. Throughout the 1970´s and 1980´s contemporary feminist theory was concerned with providing the theoretical and legal foundation to enable women to achieve social, economic, and political equality. Strategies generally thought essential to that end included increasing women´s employment and decreasing their involvement with the mothering role. As a result, while feminist policy initiatives did address pregnancy and childbirth breastfeeding, particularly past women´s return to work, was not seen as an issue.
During this same time period, however, the United States witnessed a dramatic resurgence in the proportion of new mothers breastfeeding. As such, although we have witnessed a dramatic change in US policy and health care practice related to breastfeeding since the 1980´s, these changes have occurred independent of feminist theory or voice. We hope to develop that voice.
The 2005 conference attracted over 50 people. Speakers included:
- Bernice Hausman
- Paige Hall Smith
- Amy Spangler
- Mary Rose Tully
- Ginger Sall
- Cheryl Lovelady
The 2006 was even larger! Over 100, mostly from North Carolina, attended. Keynote speakers included:
- Jacqueline H. Wolf, author of "Don´t kill your baby: Public health and the decline of breastfeeding in the US"
- Chris Milford, active in the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action & collaborator with the International Labor Organization in developing the
ILO´s lactation policies.
In 2007 we went national! We teamed up with the Center for Infant and Young Child Feeding and Care at UNC Chapel Hill and its director, Miriam Labbok. We expanded from one to two days; around 100 came from across the United States. Our focus this year was on women’s reproductive health, rights and justice. Speakers included:
- Judy Norsigian
- Barbara Katz-Rothman
- Bernice Hausman
- Amy Tiemann
- Jacqueline Wolf
- Schatzi McCarrthy,
- Polly Sisk
- Norma Escobar
- Miriam Labbok
- Paige Hall Smith
- Barbara Pullen-Smith
- Maxine Eichner
- Chris Mulford
- Jane Brown.
We are now in the process of editing the papers from the 2007 symposium and plan to publish them in the International Breastfeeding Journal. Keep an eye out! Again, the next Breastfeeding & Feminism Symposium is scheduled for March 26 - 27, 2009 at UNCG. Cost/Hotel Information/Abstract submission information is now available (click here)