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Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
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Sun, 17 Jun 2007 19:41:33 -0300
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Having done some research on the fear and loathing behind the oppression 
of women, I figured that it wasn't too much of a stretch to consider the 
fear and loathing that might underlie the attitudes of people who so 
vehemently object to seeing mothers breastfeed in public. I came across 
this after reading some things on the history of breastfeeding and its 
decline (related in part to the belief in scientific progress and 
rationality, and linked with the rejection of physicality that was such 
a huge factor in women's oppression). I haven't read the whole article, 
but here's the reference.
Basically, I guess seeing someone nurturing life makes people realize 
that they are mortal. Geez, sorry. LOL
Jo-Anne

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 33, No. 1, 110-122 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167206294202
© 2007 Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Mother's Milk: An Existential Perspective on Negative Reactions to 
Breast-Feeding
Cathy R. Cox
University of Missouri–Columbia

Jamie L. Goldenberg

University of South Florida

Jamie Arndt

University of Missouri–Columbia

Tom Pyszczynski

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Drawing from an existential perspective rooted in terror management 
theory, four studies examined the hypothesis that breast-feeding women 
serve as reminders of the physical, animal nature of humanity and that 
such recognition is threatening in the face of one's unalterable 
mortality. Study 1 demonstrated that mortality salience (MS) led to more 
negative reactions toward a scenario depicting a woman breast-feeding 
her infant in public, and in Study 2, MS decreased liking and increased 
physical avoidance of a potential task partner described as 
breast-feeding in another room. Further supporting the hypothesis that 
such reactions are rooted in threats associated with human 
creatureliness, MS in conjunction with a breast-feeding prime led to an 
increase in the accessibility of creaturely related cognitions (Study 3) 
and priming human/animal similarities (i.e., creatureliness) led to 
increased negativity toward a magazine cover depicting a woman 
breast-feeding her child (Study 4). Implications of this research are 
discussed.

Key Words: terror management theory • death anxiety • breast-feeding • 
evaluation of women • evaluation of the body

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=17178934&dopt=Abstract
http://psp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/1/110

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