Manifestations of neoliberal feminism in U.S. teacher lactation behaviours

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigates the material-discursive contexts available for lactation amongst U.S. teachers who wish to continue nursing [a] child(ren) upon returning full-time to the classroom. Using critical feminist methodologies, we interviewed teacher-parents who chose to lactate or nurse their infants while at school. The study suggests that schools in the United States might be rife with neo-patriarchy that is highly oppressive to teacher-parents. Further, we found that the few discursive strategies available to lactating teacher-parents to navigate a tenuous work/life balance tend to be largely rooted in the highly individualized, responsibilised discourse of neoliberal feminism that is woefully inadequate to pose any serious challenge to the entrenched neo-patriarchy in schools.