Breastfeeding and Feminism Conference. Russian language edition of the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
This post is LONG overdue. The reason for this is the profound difficulty that I have struggled with finding the right words to express the tremendous gratitude to Paige Hall-Smith and Miriam Labbok who championed Breastfeeding and Feminism conferences (BFIC) for a decade. I was very fortunate to be part of the symposia, then conferences, for nine out of ten gatherings. This academic thinktank about intersections of women's lives and just about any facet of life in a society from literature to internet media, government and medicine influenced me and my work as a breastfeeding advocate, in particular as the editor of the Russian edition of the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (WAB) in more ways than I can untangle myself.
La Leche League (LLL) has been hailed as a very feminist organization as well as heavily criticized as a staunch stronghold of patriarchy. Yet few will disagree that LLL pioneered the cause of breastfeeding as a decidedly non-authoriatarian grassroots organization that provides one-on-one help to breastfeeding women all over the world. Perhaps, this is the reason why I found breastfeeding symposia so fascinating - they were in nearly complete accord with what LLL does and promotes.
Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conferences view breastfeeding from the perspective of women. A unique feature of the conference is a bird's eye view of breastfeeding in society. Unlike 99% of other conferences that see breastfeeding as a biomedical practice under medical surveillance, BFIC expands the horizons of not only what breastfeeding is, but also what influences breastfeeding, breastfeeding women, and women in society. Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conference gives voice to many scientists who study breastfeeding, not just medical professionals who have the traditional authority to speak on the matters of feeding.
I will fall short giving credit to every academic who shared her work at BFIC. It is so hard to remember and acknowledge every single woman who contributed to the conferences. I do not want my handicap to stop me from highlighting some, but by all means not all, concrete examples from BFIC that shaped the Russian edition of WAB.
1. Fiona Giles' research into breastfeeding promotion through the concept of bodily pleasure as opposed to nutritional, medicinal, and traditional practice became the lead theme for our book. Dr.Giles promoted the idea of a playful, strong, and free mother for whom breastfeeding is an act of self-caring, self-discovery as well as a source of pleasure and a means of self-experssion. (You can read my Russian blogpost with Google translate and learn the details of the presentation as well see the visual materials that were used to support the idea). Interestingly, this idea resonated so well with the article about LLL from the 1950's or 1960's Reader's Digest - They Teach the Joys of Breastfeeding. While the American edition definitely pioneered the same theme, as an editor of the Russian edition I strenghtend the message to underscore the joy and pleasure of a nursing relationship between a mother and her child. This idea was promoted both through words and visual imagery in the book.
At the same time, I was very careful not to censor any expression of sorrow, sadness, or frustration with breastfeeding. At times our desire to promote breastfeeding can silence the women who are frustrated with the experience. It is important that we do not exclude the women who openly express their dissatisfaction with breastfeeding from discussions about breastfeeding. Marina Kopylova, an LLL Leader from Baltimore, MD, added a piece on moving forward or making piece with the tragic breastfeeding experience that so many women know when they fail to breastfeed. The main focus of this essay was the fact that one woman cannot place sole responsibility for failure to breastfeed on herself like so many women do.
2. The importance and power of women's voices was already a large part of the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding - every chapter started with a woman's story and the American edition was full of quotes from women, conveying that the text itself supported what women said as opposed to women conforming to the medical and scientific claims of the day. The slight but significant difference in the Russan language edition from the American version is the inclusion of stories that run contrary to either the scientific theory proclaimed in the book or the ideas of "a good mother". I had the courage and every confidence to include these stories in our book largely due to many years of listening to all the social sciences researchers that spoke at BFIC.
Two examples come to mind - swaddling and smoking. There was much discussion of the information on swaddling during the team editing of the book. Russian LLL Leader from Moscow, Katia Lokshina, expressed much concern that criticism of swaddling from a scientific standpoint ran contrary to traditional Russian practices of generations of women in the former USSR. I personally oversaw that a story submitted by one of our proof-readers did not get censored due to the fact that her personal mothering experience with swaddling ran contrary to the scientific theory outlined in the book. In fact, I welcomed such a story as an important part of the book to show that women mother in many ways, not all of them in alliance with what science proclaims as the truth of today.
Another example is a mother's story that detailed her experience with eating fast food, having a beer, and smoking during the period of her life when she breastfed her son. This unconventional story for a reputable mainstream publication was one the best personal testimonies about breastfeeding that we were fortunate to discover, yet as an editor I was fully aware well ahead of time that many would not like or appreciate this story. Although all the research points to the facts that eating just about anything, smoking, and consuming alcohol is compatible with breastfeeding, mainstream public has a very hard time accepting the fact that mothers are human and live normal lives very much like non-mothers.
On one hand inclusion of such a story in the book is walking the walk of supporting women with experiences that do not conform to the mainstream ideas of socially acceptable behaviors for breastfeeding mothers. On the other hand, sharing such stories open doors and normalize the experience of living and breastfeeding as an ordinary woman for many women who abandon breastfeeding because they cannot live saintly lives that medicine demands of them. On the third hand (that many women seem to have to juggle all the demands that are placed on them), inclusion of such stories creates spaces for all kinds of mother and all kinds of living and all kinds of mothering. Live and let live.
3. Another feature of the Russian edition of WAB was the unedited ways of how women talk about breastfeeding. This respect and appreciation of women's stories and ways of expressing themselves comes directly from BFIC. Mainstream media tends to showcase a particular type of a mother - an educated and well-spoken woman. The language of stories tends to be very literary, very conventional, very scientific, very "blah". Most women don't talk like that. In my conversations with Tatiana Reshetnik, the book editor for the publishing house Eskmo, I specifically asked not to comb women's words for literary appropriateness and acceptability. If I recall correctly, some stories had some strong language that accurately expressed the feelings of women and were more reflective of the ways women talk in real life when they do not present their best selves for public consumption.
4. Nancy Chin mentioned in her research that higher order structures (think governement and policy, social order and economic realities of women's lives) influence women much more than seemingly individual decisions that women make about breastfeeding ( Russian post to Google translate for more). I included some mentioning of this information in the Russian language edition of WAB because Russia under new capitalist order that swept the country with the fall of the USSR saw some unfavorable changes that already affect breastfeeding women. Mainly, this concerns women's participation in workforce. Soviet government implemented some of the most breastfeeding women friendly legislation in the world allowing just about every imaginable arrangement for women with small children from extensive and paid maternity leave with job protection when a woman was ready to return to work to part-time work options, flex-time, paid breastfeeding (not pumping) breaks, etc. (Not that legislation alone imporves breastfeeding. For more insights read on the cultural context of breastfeeding in Russia). New capitalist order brought new realities that many Western women face - the need or coersion to return to work as soon as possible, forced milk expression when facing forced separation from children, failure to breastfeed because new capitalist ways do not accomodate mothers. I mention that women in the former USSR countries need to be vigilant to protect and enforce the legislation that favors mothers and enables mothers to feed their families and parent.
I do hope to continue to chronicle our team work on the Russian edition of the Womanly Art and will mention other influences from Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conferences on my work as an editor-in-chief.
I would like to thank all the past and future participants of this most influential breastfeeding thinktank in the world. Your work is much needed and appreciated. I hope to find inspiration in your work and dissiminate your research directly to women who breastfeed. I also would like to thank Thea Calhoun-Smith and Melanie Pringle for all the hard work they do behing the scenes to make the conference possible for all of us.
Happy 10th Anniversary to Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conference!
La Leche League (LLL) has been hailed as a very feminist organization as well as heavily criticized as a staunch stronghold of patriarchy. Yet few will disagree that LLL pioneered the cause of breastfeeding as a decidedly non-authoriatarian grassroots organization that provides one-on-one help to breastfeeding women all over the world. Perhaps, this is the reason why I found breastfeeding symposia so fascinating - they were in nearly complete accord with what LLL does and promotes.
Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conferences view breastfeeding from the perspective of women. A unique feature of the conference is a bird's eye view of breastfeeding in society. Unlike 99% of other conferences that see breastfeeding as a biomedical practice under medical surveillance, BFIC expands the horizons of not only what breastfeeding is, but also what influences breastfeeding, breastfeeding women, and women in society. Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conference gives voice to many scientists who study breastfeeding, not just medical professionals who have the traditional authority to speak on the matters of feeding.
I will fall short giving credit to every academic who shared her work at BFIC. It is so hard to remember and acknowledge every single woman who contributed to the conferences. I do not want my handicap to stop me from highlighting some, but by all means not all, concrete examples from BFIC that shaped the Russian edition of WAB.
1. Fiona Giles' research into breastfeeding promotion through the concept of bodily pleasure as opposed to nutritional, medicinal, and traditional practice became the lead theme for our book. Dr.Giles promoted the idea of a playful, strong, and free mother for whom breastfeeding is an act of self-caring, self-discovery as well as a source of pleasure and a means of self-experssion. (You can read my Russian blogpost with Google translate and learn the details of the presentation as well see the visual materials that were used to support the idea). Interestingly, this idea resonated so well with the article about LLL from the 1950's or 1960's Reader's Digest - They Teach the Joys of Breastfeeding. While the American edition definitely pioneered the same theme, as an editor of the Russian edition I strenghtend the message to underscore the joy and pleasure of a nursing relationship between a mother and her child. This idea was promoted both through words and visual imagery in the book.
At the same time, I was very careful not to censor any expression of sorrow, sadness, or frustration with breastfeeding. At times our desire to promote breastfeeding can silence the women who are frustrated with the experience. It is important that we do not exclude the women who openly express their dissatisfaction with breastfeeding from discussions about breastfeeding. Marina Kopylova, an LLL Leader from Baltimore, MD, added a piece on moving forward or making piece with the tragic breastfeeding experience that so many women know when they fail to breastfeed. The main focus of this essay was the fact that one woman cannot place sole responsibility for failure to breastfeed on herself like so many women do.
2. The importance and power of women's voices was already a large part of the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding - every chapter started with a woman's story and the American edition was full of quotes from women, conveying that the text itself supported what women said as opposed to women conforming to the medical and scientific claims of the day. The slight but significant difference in the Russan language edition from the American version is the inclusion of stories that run contrary to either the scientific theory proclaimed in the book or the ideas of "a good mother". I had the courage and every confidence to include these stories in our book largely due to many years of listening to all the social sciences researchers that spoke at BFIC.
Two examples come to mind - swaddling and smoking. There was much discussion of the information on swaddling during the team editing of the book. Russian LLL Leader from Moscow, Katia Lokshina, expressed much concern that criticism of swaddling from a scientific standpoint ran contrary to traditional Russian practices of generations of women in the former USSR. I personally oversaw that a story submitted by one of our proof-readers did not get censored due to the fact that her personal mothering experience with swaddling ran contrary to the scientific theory outlined in the book. In fact, I welcomed such a story as an important part of the book to show that women mother in many ways, not all of them in alliance with what science proclaims as the truth of today.
Another example is a mother's story that detailed her experience with eating fast food, having a beer, and smoking during the period of her life when she breastfed her son. This unconventional story for a reputable mainstream publication was one the best personal testimonies about breastfeeding that we were fortunate to discover, yet as an editor I was fully aware well ahead of time that many would not like or appreciate this story. Although all the research points to the facts that eating just about anything, smoking, and consuming alcohol is compatible with breastfeeding, mainstream public has a very hard time accepting the fact that mothers are human and live normal lives very much like non-mothers.
On one hand inclusion of such a story in the book is walking the walk of supporting women with experiences that do not conform to the mainstream ideas of socially acceptable behaviors for breastfeeding mothers. On the other hand, sharing such stories open doors and normalize the experience of living and breastfeeding as an ordinary woman for many women who abandon breastfeeding because they cannot live saintly lives that medicine demands of them. On the third hand (that many women seem to have to juggle all the demands that are placed on them), inclusion of such stories creates spaces for all kinds of mother and all kinds of living and all kinds of mothering. Live and let live.
3. Another feature of the Russian edition of WAB was the unedited ways of how women talk about breastfeeding. This respect and appreciation of women's stories and ways of expressing themselves comes directly from BFIC. Mainstream media tends to showcase a particular type of a mother - an educated and well-spoken woman. The language of stories tends to be very literary, very conventional, very scientific, very "blah". Most women don't talk like that. In my conversations with Tatiana Reshetnik, the book editor for the publishing house Eskmo, I specifically asked not to comb women's words for literary appropriateness and acceptability. If I recall correctly, some stories had some strong language that accurately expressed the feelings of women and were more reflective of the ways women talk in real life when they do not present their best selves for public consumption.
4. Nancy Chin mentioned in her research that higher order structures (think governement and policy, social order and economic realities of women's lives) influence women much more than seemingly individual decisions that women make about breastfeeding ( Russian post to Google translate for more). I included some mentioning of this information in the Russian language edition of WAB because Russia under new capitalist order that swept the country with the fall of the USSR saw some unfavorable changes that already affect breastfeeding women. Mainly, this concerns women's participation in workforce. Soviet government implemented some of the most breastfeeding women friendly legislation in the world allowing just about every imaginable arrangement for women with small children from extensive and paid maternity leave with job protection when a woman was ready to return to work to part-time work options, flex-time, paid breastfeeding (not pumping) breaks, etc. (Not that legislation alone imporves breastfeeding. For more insights read on the cultural context of breastfeeding in Russia). New capitalist order brought new realities that many Western women face - the need or coersion to return to work as soon as possible, forced milk expression when facing forced separation from children, failure to breastfeed because new capitalist ways do not accomodate mothers. I mention that women in the former USSR countries need to be vigilant to protect and enforce the legislation that favors mothers and enables mothers to feed their families and parent.
I do hope to continue to chronicle our team work on the Russian edition of the Womanly Art and will mention other influences from Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conferences on my work as an editor-in-chief.
I would like to thank all the past and future participants of this most influential breastfeeding thinktank in the world. Your work is much needed and appreciated. I hope to find inspiration in your work and dissiminate your research directly to women who breastfeed. I also would like to thank Thea Calhoun-Smith and Melanie Pringle for all the hard work they do behing the scenes to make the conference possible for all of us.
Happy 10th Anniversary to Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conference!