Covering nipples: news discourse and the framing of breastfeeding

Abstract

Health experts are in widespread agreement that breastfeeding is generally the best option for infants and their mothers. The right to breastfeed in public has been guaranteed in forty-seven states in the US as a means to support nursing mothers and their babies, yet breastfeeding in public remains a controversial act. This project represents a textual analysis of news articles in the top ten newspapers in the United States to study the way breastfeeding is framed. We focus particular attention on the way one word, “nipple,” is treated in news coverage and argue that by using this word in connection with sexuality or pathology, news reports inhibit efforts to normalize nursing. Our findings suggest that because of journalism’s role in framing public discourse, a more frank, frequent and open use of the word nipple might better serve the needs of maternal–infant health.

Keywords:

• Breastfeeding
• discursive discipline
• journalism
• health communication
• taboo

Notes

1. http://www.auditbureau.org/