Ok, Nancy, I'll bite--

you said " There is another book out there, however,
The Anthropology of Breast-Feeding: Natural Law or Social Construct, by
Vanessa Maher which is awful."

I read and then re-read this book a good few years ago -- and it is a collection
of essays by different authors, who have different levels of interest / quality
between them.  However, some of it was really interesting and some of it was
very useful to me in what I was working on at the time.

In what ways do you think it was awful?

I will concede, btw, that it is written as professional academic chapters, not
as information for the woman on the street or those who seek to support mothers
in a western 1990's country with practical breastfeeding concerns.  (But the
title 'Anthropology' indicates this, doesn't it?)

Personally, I found the chapter on 18th century Iceland by Hastrup particularly
interesting and helpful in informing my personal theoretical understanding of
the influence on breastfeeeding of cultural norms and paradigms, and of the
peripheral role often accorded to breastfeeding issues by hegemonic social
needs.

Magda Sachs
Breastfeeding Supporter, BfN, UK

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html