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Candyce Taylor

English 2030, Rousculp



Discourse Community: La Leche League

For my linguistics class, I was asked to ethnographically describe a discourse
community that I am not apart of and to critically analyze the group by the discourse they
use. I have three friends that are very pro-breastfeeding and leaders in the La Leche League
here in Utah. The La Leche Leagues purpose is to promote and educate mothers to
breastfeed, and believe it is the first step in good mothering. In this paper, I will show how
the La Leche Leagues ideology of being a good mother grounds the way the members
use discourse to identify themselves as a community.
I asked my friend Lis, who currently attends the monthly meetings in Salt Lake City
and Sandy, if I could go along with her to the meetings. I also asked permission from the
leaders if I could observe and take notes of their discourse during these meetings, and I
received their consent with the exception of no recording devices. Anne, one of the leaders
said this is the case so that mothers feel comfortable sharing anything and everything
during this speech event. The Salt Lake group met at the Sprague branch Salt Lake City
Library, and the Sandy group met at the Alta View Hospital, both in private meeting rooms
with everyone sitting in a circle.
There are many different local groups that meet once per month. There were about
15 attending the Salt Lake meeting, and 8 in the Sandy meeting. I found that with the Salt
Lake City group, 3 other leaders of this community were attending the meeting to support
the other members even though they were not leading the meeting, and some of them
were not currently breastfeeding themselves. I think that this support is so crucial to the La
Leche League, because they are somewhat oppressed in society. Some, especially in the
mormon culture here in Utah, view their ideals as a bit radical. Its encouraged to
breastfeed while covering up with a small blanket or in a private room to avoid any feelings
of desire from men.
Both meetings were scheduled to start at 10:15 a.m. Some members came early to
settle in and others trickled in as late as 30 to 45 minutes after the start of the meeting. It is
obviously a very relaxed environment, with one mom crossing her legs in her chair,
another propping her feet up, and a couple others on the floor with their children. One
mom dumps out a bag of toys in the center of the seated members for the toddlers to
occupy themselves. Of course, almost every single mother is breastfeeding during the
meeting, with the exception of a couple still pregnant. Before the meeting starts, mothers
are speaking phatically and catching up with one another on personal issues. Some were
talking in a higher pitch to their own babies and making comments to others about how
cute their children are.
Anne, the one who is leading the Salt Lake meeting, approaches the other members
at their chairs and asks how things are going. Meghan, the leader at the Sandy meeting,
does this as well. I think because they felt confident enough to approach other mothers,
even though no one else was doing this, indicates some sort of power role. They would both
start a conversation by asking how things are going, but with the underlying question of
how their child is doing with breastfeeding. Here is an example of one members
competence of this:
Member: I cant wait until he doesnt have to wear socks. Hes such a chunker!
Anne: How is he sleeping at night?
Member: He sleeps until 6-6:30. Theres a few nights when hes latched on all night long.
Anne: Really? Wow!
Once the meeting starts, the leaders tell the group, the La Leche League is a non-
profit organization. We have members, so if youre interested let us know. We do have a
lending library, where members are able to borrow books. There are a lot of great
pregnancy books. She gives a little history about the LLL, saying it started in a park in
Chicago and is now worldwide. She points to a poster with the LLLs philosophy, which are
summarized in the following 10 statements:
1. Mothering through breastfeeding is the most natural and effective way of
understanding and satisfying the needs of the baby.
2. Mother and baby need to be together early and often to establish a satisfying
relationship and an adequate milk supply.
3. In the early years the baby has an intense need to be with his mother which is as
basic as his need for food.
4. Breast milk is the superior infant food.
5. For the healthy, full-term baby, breast milk is the only food necessary until the baby
shows signs of needing solids, about the middle of the first year after birth.
6. Ideally the breastfeeding relationship will continue until the baby outgrows the
need.
7. Alert and active participation by the mother in childbirth is a help in getting
breastfeeding off to a good start.
8. Breastfeeding is enhanced and the nursing couple sustained by the loving support,
help, and companionship of the baby's father. A father's unique relationship with his
baby is an important element in the child's development from early infancy.
9. Good nutrition means eating a well-balanced and varied diet of foods in as close to
their natural state as possible.
10. From infancy on, children need loving guidance which reflects acceptance of their
capabilities and sensitivity to their feelings.

For both meetings, it was customary to do introductions, your name, the name of
your baby, how old they are, and maybe share a little bit about your breastfeeding
experience. For the Salt Lake meeting the topic was nutrition, and after introductions,
everyone was asked to mention in what ways they are doing better than their parents did,
nutrition wise. I thought that this was a very clear example of how this discourse
community uses language to identity themselves, but also how the ideology of good
mothering controls the discourse thats used.
Many of the mothers said they try to buy organic foods, cut out meat or wheat, and
overall try not to eat processed food out of a box. When it came around the circle, and was
my turn to introduce myself, I felt the need to be in-grouped, so I too said I try not to feed
my family out of a box like my mother had, and instead eat fresh fruits and vegetables. I
knew this wasnt really the case all of the time, since some nights I feed my children frozen
pizza or a can of soup. I didnt feel that being honest would be as well received as just going
along with what others had said, for a fear of out-grouping myself. Another example of this,
is when I felt the need to explain why I didnt breastfeed, which was from an infection I had
gotten. But even with this explanation and trying not to stick out like a sore thumb, the
mother that followed my introduction also had this same infection, three times. She also
had some other ailments, and with all this, was still trying desperately to breastfeed her
baby, even though the task was obviously distressful for mom and baby.
After everyone introduced themselves, other nutrition topics were discussed in a
very casual manner, as sociolinguist Deborah Tannen calls it, cooperative overlap, in which
one speaker talks at the same time as another speaker to demonstrate an interest in the
conversation. The leaders didnt share very much personal information about what their
experiences were with breastfeeding, but instead provided facts and provoked other moms
to share their knowledge about nursing. Mothers were talking at will on whatever the
subject was about. For instance, vitamin D came up among many of the members in their
support of it. Common allergies such as dairy, soy, nuts and eggs were discussed at length.
Some were sharing their childrens experiences with dairy, and one member, Chloe, said
her daughter had something that looked like a chemical burn rash on her bottom when
the mother would eat dairy. She said, I knew something was wrong, that she was in pain.
Chloe was happy that she had discovered this about her child, to be able to do what was
nutritionally best. Again, this is another example of how the members demonstrate how
they practice good mothering.
Anne directs the discourse by saying, On to starting solids. Is there harm to start
solids too early? When asked this question, most mothers agreed somewhere in the
middle of the first year is appropriate to start solid foods. One leader said starting solids
too early can increase the chance of allergies. It also affects their immune system and
increases their likeliness of being obese later in life if solids are introduced too early.
Anne again directs the group, by saying, Now, what about alcohol?
After the group members share their experiences with pumping and dumping, Anne
concludes the topic by saying, Normally they say about an hour per drink to wait to
breastfeed. These examples of discourse are suggesting that there are many dangers, and
a child can be easily harmed by many things that are unnatural. The only discourse thats
allowed continues the ideology of a mother needing to constantly monitor babys health.

For the Sandy meeting, after everyone did introductions, they were asked to say
who their biggest support is for breastfeeding and emotional well-being. Since
breastfeeding was sort of a topic that couldnt really be skipped during introductions, I
again told my story of attempting and failing at breastfeeding. I felt like this discourse
community works hard at not being victims of oppression, that in the process, they oppress
others. I know that this isnt their intention, but after having to explain why I couldnt
breastfeed for the second time, in a room full of mothers who could breastfeed, I felt kind of
left out.
When I asked my friend, Lis, what she knows about the speech community, she said
Group culture is a big deal, as leaders teach other leaders about what is to be taught and
encouraged. Some may say their ideals are a bit extreme, which is unfortunate. The basis of
these meetings is to be uplifting and provide advice, personal experiences, and
encouragement. I could see that this was the case, with leaders validating other members
at every opportunity.



Works Cited

"La Leche League Philosophy." LLLI. N.p., 12 Apr. 2012. Web. 01 May 2014.
<https://www.llli.org/philosophy.html?m=1,0,1>.





How does the discourse community use language to maintain or challenge (or both)
certain ideologies.

Ask the members of the speech community to tell you what they know about their
speech community, the norms or expectations of the discourse.

Describe:
Setting Sprague Library private conference room, chairs situated in a circle. April 3rd
10:15 am.
Participants (rolls) 4 leaders and 14 members attended
Ends (purpose and intended outcome) Inform and share personal experiences
Act Sequence
Key (mood) relaxed and motivating
Instrumentalities- speaking
Norms of Interaction (competence)
Genre

Who talks and when, about what, to whom?

When do people communicate? In what settings?

What are the uses of language in the community (why do people talk)?

What speech events are common in the speech community?

What norms of interaction take place?







Sandy LLL meeting

Meghan(leader) How are things going with you?
Member: Good!

We are going to have our member Lis?
She had an illness and she had to wean her baby at 2 months. She relactated and
her story was covered.
Its an enrichment
Memberships are $40 a year. Members do have access to our lending library.
Lis :LLL is mother to mother support.
All go around the circle and introduce themself and their children and who is there
biggest support for breastfeeding and emotional wellbeing. d
Toolbox: Fenugreek, oatmeal, whole grains, sns

Skills: Skin to skin, night milk extraction, bonding, extraction schedule, paced bottle
feeding

Resources: mother to mother, internet, www.kellymom.com, lllusa.org, LLL leader,
friend, partner



Mothers are nursing at will. When their child gets fussy, to console them, they hold the
child and bounce, rock and shush them.
Lis has everyone read from her story that was published in the LLL magazine. She
reveiws things that helped her relactate when her child was 5 months.
Mothers share their experiences with good and bad advice.
Leaders are quick to validate other members when experiences are shared.


How the discourse community uses language to identify themselves as a community, or
to distinguish themselves from othersor connect to others?
What ideologies are naturalized in the data in your speech situation? How does this
affect the discourse of the participants?
How do ideologies affect the discourse of the participants in the La Leche League
discourse community?

How does ideology ground the way LLL members use discourse to identify themselves
as a community?

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