Extracting Milk From Mother: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Minnesota Statute 181.939

• In Event: Educational Policy Discourses: International Perspectives

Abstract

This paper explores how lactating workers are constructed in a US context, specifically in regards to MN Statute 181.939: Nursing Mothers, which outlines workplace requirements concerning milk expression. Using Holland, et al.’s (1998) concept of figured worlds, I focus my Critical Discourse Analysis on what type of “world” MN Statute 181.939 builds by emphasizing particular aspects of lactating employees’ identity and through what acts are assigned meaning. I conclude by considering what outcomes are valued, building an idea of what it means to be a good citizen related to lactation. My analysis speaks to broader concerns of state-sanctioned control within schools. This research is salient in the face of the continual, more general disregard for teachers’ bodies.

Author

• Elise Toedt, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities