The female body challenges gender equality in Sweden: breastfeeding as an existential imperative

Based on the concept of existential imperative, with its roots in the sociology of existence and phenomenology, this article explores 13 Swedish heterosexual first-time mothers’ experiences of existential shock when initiating breastfeeding. The results show that initiating breastfeeding is a highly concrete way of experiencing differences between gendered bodies. Breastfeeding, as an intercorporeal relationship, pushes women to discover the materiality and interrelationality of their existence. They also navigate a transition between two social processes: being part of a gender-equal project together with their male partner and being in an intercorporeal breastfeeding relationship with the infant, health care staff, and breastfeeding technologies. Not only is the subject-object divide challenged, but also ideals of shared parenthood, sameness, autonomy, and independence that permeate gender equality politics and discourses in many liberal capitalist societies. The analysis demonstrates that the existential imperative may be particularly tangible for Swedish women due to the strong consensus surrounding gender equality in Sweden. Recognizing existential dimensions of female embodiment and intercorporeality would make breastfeeding women’s realities more intelligible and legitimate – to themselves, to their partners, and to broader gender equality politics, both in Sweden and beyond.