Book ID: CBB180815813

Designing Motherhood: Things that Make and Break Our Births (2021)

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Michelle Millar Fisher (Author)
Amber Winick (Author)


MIT Press


Publication Date: 2021
Physical Details: 344
Language: English

While birth often brings great joy, making babies is a knotty enterprise. The designed objects that surround us when it comes to menstruation, birth control, conception, pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood vary as oddly, messily, and dramatically as the stereotypes suggest. This smart, image-rich, fashion-forward, and design-driven book explores more than eighty designs—iconic, conceptual, archaic, titillating, emotionally charged, or just plain strange—that have defined the relationships between people and babies during the past century. Each object tells a story. In striking images and engaging text, Designing Motherhood unfolds the compelling design histories and real-world uses of the objects that shape our reproductive experiences. The authors investigate the baby carrier, from the Snugli to BabyBjörn, and the (re)discovery of the varied traditions of baby wearing; the tie-waist skirt, famously worn by a pregnant Lucille Ball on I Love Lucy, and essential for camouflaging and slowly normalizing a public pregnancy; the home pregnancy kit, and its threat to the authority of male gynecologists; and more. Memorable images—including historical ads, found photos, and drawings—illustrate the crucial role design and material culture plays throughout the arc of human reproduction.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB180815813/

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Authors & Contributors
Lahey, Anita
Sarah Fox
Sarah Mellors Rodriguez
Wohleber, Curt
Patrick Ellis
Lamm, Michael
Concepts
Reproductive medicine
Maternal health services
Parents; parenting
Things; objects in the world
Reproductive technologies
Obstetrics and pregnancy
Time Periods
20th century
21st century
19th century
20th century, late
18th century
Places
United States
Great Britain
England
China
Australia
Mexico
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