Breast-Feeding Argumentative Analysis

Breast-feeding not only includes many benefits for the child, but it has been shown that the benefits could tag along to the mother as well. So, with that being said, I believe breast-feeding is a very healthy option for mothers to take into consideration, when the time comes. As it states, in our textbook, “Human milk contains the proper amounts of carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins, and minerals for babies” (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2015).). It has also been shown that the antibodies from the mother are carried on to the breast milk, causing babies to be less prone to certain illnesses, like diarrhea and constipation. As for the mother, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health states, that mothers who
Some Americans may have the same view as me, referring to the ‘appropriate’ age limit in which a child should be breast-fed, and they simply might not consider a toddler into their belief of what an appropriate age to be breast-fed is. Which brings me to the topic of Western societies. Many people from Western societies have extremely firm beliefs, and what they believe in will be what everyone has to follow. So, because of how strong people believe in their customs and beliefs, and how strong they may show their beliefs, it is understandable that after a point, breast-feeding may feel “unacceptable” in the Western society. For example, if many people in the Western society believe children who are older than one year should not be breast-fed, and they see a mother breast-feeding a three year old child, then much rejection is going to be brought forward, making the mother feel as if what she is doing is completely unacceptable. Other times, these strong reactions may arise because maturity is not present, which can unfortunately bring forward the issue of seeing the breast as a sex object. The fact that our views on the breast as a sex object is so powerful that it overpowers the health benefits of breast-feeding, is quite hard to