Sociological Theories and Breastfeeding: A Midwifery Essay

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Essay in midwifery
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Introduction
Sociological theories usually tend to explain as to for the relation of particular facts and
how these facts are normally related. The spectrum of the sociological theories is usually from a
brief description of a sole social process to models which can be used for scrutiny and
interpretation. Some of the theories in sociology are normally used to predict future events while
others can always be used to explain the characteristics of the societal world. Also, other
sociological theories normally serve the function of acting as broad perspectives which form the
basis for further analysis in sociology. Some of the theories in sociology include the feminism
theory and the structural functionalism theory. The structural functionalism usually tends to
explain the social structure whereas the feminist theory usually tends to put more focus on
gender and how it is related to power. In my paper, I intend to discuss the sociological issues and
inform the subject of breastfeeding. The main aim of the essay is to relate the effect of social
issues such as feminism and structural functionalism to the act of breastfeeding.
Sociological theories and research
As stated earlier, the theories in sociology usually tend to give an explanation as to why
some factors exist within our society (Smith 2010, p.45). They tend to give explanations and
even carry out analysis on certain events in our lives. Feminist theory is a theory in sociology
which tends to put more focuses on sexual orientation, race, nationality, and even the economic
status. It is mainly based on the thought of the women's oppression within the society and also
the tendency of men dominating society. This theory can always be grouped into three waves
namely the first wave, the second wave, and the third feminist wave. The first wave put much

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focus on the voting rights of the female gender. The second wave put much attention on women
education and political participation while the third wave was a continuation of the third wave
and it emphasizes on issues like globalization, post-colonialism, and post-modernism. The theory
was sparked via the existence of gender inequality. The women were restricted to the household
activities and majorly conducted duties like parenting and cooking for the family. Before the
onset of the three feminist waves, most of the women had little knowledge on the importance of
breastfeeding for the first half a year after the childbirth.
The feminist theory was seeking to change this situation (Nord 2014, p.67). The feminist
theory also put much focus on the acknowledgment of the health of women. It insisted that there
was a physical or the masculine difference between the males and the females must be
acknowledged; this led to the improvement of the health of most women particularly the mothers
and even nursing ones (Hyde and Roche-Reid, 2014.).
The structural functionalism, however, is a sociological theory that puts focus on the
framework of society. It usually puts much focus on ensuring that the different parts of society
work together to enhance stability and even solidarity. Apart from the social structure, the theory
usually also tend to explain the social functions of a society. It assumes that the society can be
viewed as organs just like in the body which must always work together to achieve the proper
bodily functions (Parry 2018, p.801). This would mean that for society to perform better, they
must consider factors such as cohesion. Cohesion means unity within society. It usually believes
that all the aspects of the society like family, media, and religion are correlated and that these
aspects are usually important towards ensuring that the society is stable and functioning as
expected of it. The theory usually attempts to interpret every part within society makes a