What Is Kinship, Maternity, And Breastfeeding?

The Kinship and Bond of Blood Tie Breastfeeding The text “The Milk of the Male: Kinship, Maternity and Breastfeeding in Medieval Islam” written by Mohammed Hocine Benkheira (2013) carefully demonstrates how breastfeeding contributes benefits of kinship between the mother, the baby and the milk family and the importance of establishing said kinship. Breastfeeding has been historically and presently known as an essential step in the process of growing a healthy baby, as well as a substantial connection between the mother, the father and the newborn or infant. In today’s society, breastfeeding has become a controversial topic amongst mothers everywhere. According to some mothers, bottle feeding with formula is considered beneficial to babies; while other mothers believe that the health and …show more content…
The text builds the understanding that children who are nursed by one mother are kin, regardless if it is through a blood relationship. The breast was considered a sacred commodity during the Medieval period. In this time period the men exclusively proceeded to hire a wet nurse ensuing that the mother’s breasts would remain as the virginal image which the men cherished. This reconsidered and criticized the pre-Islamic and Qur’anic beliefs of milk kinship to adhere to rules of blood kinship and also their “implication that men have nothing to do with milk kinship” (p.35). It is explained that the way of knowing or establishing the rules of breastfeeding are politically critical for attaining kinship. Benkheira construes “the only mode of milk ingestion that complies with ‘nature’ is suckling” (p.31). Any other form of milk collection such as “pouring milk into the baby’s mouth or through an enema produces no marital impediment” (p.31) or kinship