Breast feeding and bottle feeding are represented differently in British media

Sociocultural factors are assumed to play a part in women's decision making about infant feeding, but there has been little research on cultural representations. On p 1196, Henderson et al report on an analysis of the representation of infant feeding by the British media over one month. Bottle feeding was highly visible on television, whereas the image of a woman breast feeding appeared only once in the entire sample. Bottle feeding was associated with "ordinary" families whereas breast feeding was associated with middle class or celebrity women. Bottle feeding was represented as straightforward whereas breast feeding was represented as problematic. The health implications of different infant feeding practices were rarely mentioned.

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Relevant Article

Representing infant feeding: content analysis of British media portrayals of bottle feeding and breast feeding

Lesley Henderson, Jenny Kitzinger, and Josephine Green
BMJ 2000 321: 1196-1198. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]