Breast or Bottle?

"Breast or Bottle? is a kairology of breastfeeding, an analysis of the rhetorical activity that has made possible conflicting public sentiments—for example, that breastfeeding is best but that ingredients in human milk can be replicated in formulas. In explicating infant feeding controversies through an analysis of biomedical, professional, marketing, and personal rhetoric, Amy Koerber opens up a 'feminist discursive space' for breastfeeding."—Bernice Hausman, professor of English at Virginia Tech and author of Mother's Milk: Breastfeeding Controversies in American Culture, and Viral Mothers: Breastfeeding in the Age of HIV/AIDS

"Koerber's nuanced rhetorical history of infant feeding is utterly illuminating. Arguing that today's pro-breastfeeding messages must be viewed in relation to the anti-breastfeeding campaigns to which they respond, Koerber elegantly demonstrates what a rhetorical scholar brings to interdisciplinary studies of health and culture. Here is an exemplary, multimodal, analysis of how matters of health, medicine, and choice are negotiated in public discourse."—Judy Z. Segal, professor of English at the University of British Columbia and author of Health and the Rhetoric of Medicine

"Amy Koerber's thoughtful analysis of the rhetorical contest over breastfeeding reveals the deeply interpenetrating, often contradictory forces that shape breastfeeding policy, perception, and practice. This clearly written, compelling text strongly contributes to our understanding of agency and resistance in health contexts and will prove useful for scholars and practitioners alike."—Lisa Keränen, author of Scientific Characters: Rhetoric, Politics, and Trust in Breast Cancer Research

2015 CCCC Technical and Scientific Communication Award