Inhabitation of Inhibition and Creative Freedom for Breastfeeding Mothers

Abstract

In this edited interview, psychologists Nisha Gupta and Eric Greene interview Lori Jordan Fountain, psychology doctoral student and filmmaker of Inhabitation of Inhibition, an autophenomenological short film about the lived experience of breastfeeding in public. Despite the known benefits, antipathetic attitudes toward nursing in public persist, and “breastfeeding is perceived by many as dirty, sexual, embarrassing, and generally, something that should be kept behind closed doors.” Inspired by Sartre’s notion of the gaze, the mother in the film takes up the self as seen by the Other. By assuming the guilt of which she is blamed, she embodies and enacts the judgments placed on her, foregrounding the covert oppression endured by breastfeeding mothers. In this interview, Lori describes the liberation felt when responding to the objectifying gaze—a gaze that perceives her as a machine-like milk dispenser, a bad mother, and a sexual object. She shares how satire enables her to ‘flip the script’ in order to demonstrate, address, and challenge the absurd, oppressive narratives that shame breastfeeding mothers. The conversation explores how protesting this covert oppression through the language of filmmaking allowed Lori to work through it directly and experientially, just as one might in psychotherapy.