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EwokNuggets OP t1_j44yjp6 wrote

Reply to comment by Own_Art1279 in The Need by Helen Phillips (light spoilers) by EwokNuggets

I totally get the breastfeeding as a symbol of a mothers connection and I’d be fine with that, but literally it’s on every other page. A few times through the book? Sure. By the end I felt like her breast milk was a character itself.

Maybe the book fell flat for me being a guy with no kids? I’m pretty open to whatever concept an author wants to throw my way but this just wasn’t handle well at all in my opinion. Maybe i just need to mull it over some more?

Also i honestly don’t quite understand the ending. Like at all.

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Own_Art1279 t1_j4521e4 wrote

I also have a quick thought about the breastfeeding thing. I think we're so accustomed to thinking of breasts as sexual that it does come across as a weird sexual fetish. But, I think her point is the opposite of that. We're so uncomfortable as a society with breasts being used for breastfeeding that breastfeeding gets confused as something sexual. That's why women wear coverups as they try to nurse their babies. God forbid they expose their boob to the public because we see that as indecent. Philips is making the point that the breast is for breastfeeding. It's debatable about how successful she was in making this point. Personally, I read it as intending to shock her audience sometimes in order to communicate that the reality of breastfeeding isn't always easy, clean, and certainly not sexy. I think women are also conflicted about their breasts as they experience the early years of motherhood. A mom still wants to be sexy and attractive but her body also has other roles to fulfill.

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