Contemplating Maternity in an Era of Choice

Edited by Sara Hayden and Lynn O'Brien Hallstein - Contributions by Jaime E. Bochantin; Kirsten J. Broadfoot; Jennifer J. Bute; Patrice Buzzanell; Renee L. Cowan; Summer R. Cunningham; Suzy D'Enbeau; Bonnie J. Dow; John Duckworth; Jennifer Emerling Bone;

Women who came of age in the late twentieth century were raised in the era of choice; they grew up believing that reproductive decision-making is a political right, a responsibility of women living the successes of second wave feminism, and under their control. Contemplating Maternity in an Era of Choice: Explorations into Discourses of Reproduction explores contemporary maternity both within and in light of these late-twentieth century understandings. Employing a variety of feminist communication approaches, the volume's contributors discuss how discourses of choice shape and are shaped by women's identities and experiences as (non)mothers and how those same discourses affect and reflect private practices and public policies related to reproduction and motherhood. Through this process, the contributors illustrate a variety of ways of conducting feminist thinking, research, and practices within the communication discipline. Major sub-disciplines within communication studies are represented here including feminist organizational, interpersonal, rhetorical, critical/cultural, and social movement studies. Whereas many of the previous scholarly investigations into maternity highlight only one aspect or phase of motherhood, Contemplating Maternity in an Era of Choice is unique because it investigates discourses of choice across the arc of maternity and as enacted through various (non)maternal subject positions.

Part 1 Introduction Part 2 Section One: Mediated Images of Choice Chapter 3 Chapter One: Public Choices, Private Control: How Mediated Mom Labels Work Rhetorically to Dismantle the Politics of Choice and White Second Wave Feminist Successes Chapter 4 Chapter Two: No Exception Post-Prevention: "Differential Biopolitics" on the Morning After Chapter 5 Chapter Three: Politicizing Personal Choices? The Storying of Age-Related Infertility in Public Discourses Part 6 Section Two: Choice in the Public Sphere Chapter 7 Chapter Four: Reproductive Freedom Transforming Discourses of Choice Chapter 8 Chapter Five: The Commodification of Motherhood: Surrogacy as a Matter of Choice Chapter 9 Chapter Six: Law, Politics, and Reproductive Choices Part 10 Section Three: Pregnancy and Choice Chapter 11 Chapter Seven: My Eyes Cry Without Me: Illusions of Choice in the Transition to Motherhood Chapter 12 Chapter Eight: Two Women, Two Stories: Complicating Our "Right to Choose" Chapter 13 Chapter Nine: The In/Fertile, Un/Natural Body: Ecofeminism, Dis/Embodiment, Technology, and (the Loss of) Choice Part 14 Section Four: Working with Choice Chapter 15 Chapter Ten: The Invisible Politics of 'Choice' in the Workplace: Naming the Informal Parenting Support System Chapter 16 Chapter Eleven: Cutting the Meeting Short: Conflicting Narrative Choices in One Woman's Maternity Leave Chapter 17 Chapter Twelve: Total Motherhood and Having it All: Reproduction, Maternity, and Discourses of Choice among Female Police Officers Part 18 Section Five: Ongoing Choices Chapter 19 Chapter Thirteen: Purposefully Childless Good Women Chapter 20 Chapter Fourteen: What Men Say About Women: Fathers Contemplate Work Family Choices and Motherhood Chapter 21 Chapter Fifteen: Outlaw Mothers Raising Gentle-men: Choosing to Disrupt Hegemonic Tensions between Masculinity and Feminism