Disembodied Neoliberal Parenthood: Resistance and Co-Option Among Lactating Teacher-Parents

• In Event: Equitable Education Across the Continents in the 21st Century

Abstract

This study investigates the material-discursive contexts available for lactation amongst teachers who continue nursing [a] child(ren) upon returning full-time to the classroom. Using critical feminist methodologies, we interviewed teacher-parents who chose to nurse their infants while at school. The study suggests that schools 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 are largely rooted in the highly individualized, responsibilized discourse of neoliberal feminism that is woefully inadequate to pose any serious challenge to entrenched neo-patriarchy in schools. We propose the concept of disembodied neoliberal parenthood as a way to understand the material-discursive realities surrounding infant feeding in neo-patriarchal workplaces.

Authors

• Kelsey Benson, University of Georgia
  Presenting Author

• Ajay Sharma, University of Georgia
  Presenting Author