|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HELP | |
|
  $20.95
TRADE PAPER, NEW
Ships in 1 to 3 days
 available for shipping or prepaid pickup only
Available for In-store Pickup
in 7 to 12 days
Barren in the Promised Land: Childless Americans and the Pursuit of Happinessby Elaine Tyler May
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Chronicling astonishing shifts in public attitudes toward reproduction, from the association of barrenness with sin in colonial times, to the creation of laws for compulsory sterilization in the early twentieth century, from the baby craze of the 1950s, to the rise in voluntary childlessness in the 1990s, to the increasing reliance on startling reproductive technologies today, Elaine Tyler May reveals the intersection between public life and the most private part of our lives--sexuality, procreation, and family. Review:May documents a continuing American obsession with reproduction and shows how this public embrace of childbearing has inflicted anguish on childless women across the centuries. Review:[I]t is in her analysis of the new cultural divide between the child-seekers and the child-free that May is most interesting...Having carried out extensive archive research when describing childlessness in past centuries, May based her study of the 1990s on correspondence from 500 men and women who answered her request for personal testimony...[which] lend[s] an otherwise fact-laden tome the vivid colours of oral history. Review:The first major historical study of childlessness in the United States...[Barren in the Promised Land] provides an intriguing analysis of shifts in public attitudes and values toward parenthood, while surveying developments in reproductive interventions. Most important, this engaging book establishes the importance of the changing practices and meanings of childbearing and fertility for American history. Review:A powerful and sensitive chronicle of America's struggle to deal with the issue of childlessness, giving us new insight into how race, economic status, and changing cultural norms have shaped the way we feel about women bearing children. Review:Everyone who thinks about childbearing--in the personal sense of whether or when to have children, or in the context of social policy choices, including legislation to support parenting or encourage birth control--will soon be talking about this book. Synopsis:the most private part of our lives--sexuality, procreation, and family. Description:Includes bibliographical references (p. [267]-305) and index. About the AuthorElaine Tyler Mayis Professor of American Studies at the <>University of Minnesota. Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: The Public and Private Stake in Reproduction Appendix: A Note on the Sample of Letters What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
Other books you might like
Related Aisles
| ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Don't Miss
