Overview

What does it look like for a child to be nursing beyond an age that is perceived as “normal”? Chest/breastfeeding is a fraught topic both in the U.S. and in many other countries, particularly when parents continue nursing beyond a few weeks. Popular media representations and opinions of chest/breastfeeding are polarizing: parents who struggle to produce breastmilk are often made to feel inadequate by public health and media suggestions that “breast is best”. At the same time, those who practice extended nursing are often told that they are damaging their child’s physical and psychological development. Based on over a decade of research, Milk on the Side unfastens harmful myths about extended nursing— breastfeeding or chestfeeding a child beyond two years— while touching on the challenges and stigmatizing ideas that are associated with all chest/breastfeeding. The book explores the issue of chest/breastfeeding from many different contexts, including medical, policy, and familial pressures. Ultimately, readers will better understand why some parents practice extended nursing and how stigmas regarding child feeding impact all parents.

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Reviews

Anthropologist Cassandra White offers a nuanced and uniquely longitudinal understanding of extended nursing (EN) in the contemporary United States. Milk on the Side counters the persistent stigmatization of parenting decisions with a powerful case for EN as not only normal, but a basic human right. White writes in a refreshingly clear voice, triangulating her own experiences with abundant evidence from in-depth interviews and observations of social media spaces. * Kristin Wilson, Cabrillo College *

Author Information

Dr. Cassandra White is a cultural and medical anthropologist and associate professor of anthropology at Georgia State University, where she has taught for over 20 years. She is the author of An Uncertain Cure: Living with Leprosy in Brazil (Rutgers 2009) and serves on the editorial boards of two journals, Medical Anthropology and Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews.

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