For the Please Touch: Body Boundaries exhibition catalogue
April 29th, 2018
© Dana Ben-Ari

As a woman and cultural consumer, I am still surprised by the ambivalence and apprehension around THE BREAST and MOTHERHOOD. CHARGED.

Whereas I had come to accept certain realities as obvious, further investigation proved me wrong.

Engaging with today’s climate of accusations, denials, bodies, and borders, Please Touch: Body Boundaries is an extension of my film Breastmilk: The Movie, where I examine the female “problem” — the implications of biology on women and on all of us — and again daring to explore the possibility of a biological feminism.

For Holistic Parenting Magazine
June 2014
© Dana Ben-Ari

One of the most common phrases I have heard thrown around when discussing breastfeeding is that it is natural. That nature gave women breasts, and therefore women should breastfeed. This attitude often coincides with the romantic notion that nature is beautiful and benevolent even though we know this isn’t always the case. Furthermore, many of us believe strongly that breastfeeding is beneficial to both mother and child, and a quick Google search will find the most current reasons for this. Yet women find themselves faced now with a painful question: how has a function we’re ostensibly “programmed” to do become challenging for so many?