In this Book
- Misconception: Social Class and Infertility in America
- Book
- 2014
- Published by: Rutgers University Press
- Series: Families in Focus
summary
Despite the fact that, statistically, women of low socioeconomic status (SES) experience greater difficulty conceiving children, infertility is generally understood to be a wealthy, white woman’s issue. In Misconception, Ann V. Bell overturns such historically ingrained notions of infertility by examining the experiences of poor women and women of color. These women, so the stereotype would have it, are simply too fertile. The fertility of affluent and of poor women is perceived differently, and these perceptions have political and social consequences, as social policies have entrenched these ideas throughout U.S. history.
Through fifty-eight in-depth interviews with women of both high and low SES, Bell begins to break down the stereotypes of infertility and show how such depictions consequently shape women’s infertility experiences. Prior studies have relied solely on participants recruited from medical clinics—a sampling process that inherently skews the participant base toward wealthier white women with health insurance.
In comparing class experiences, Misconception goes beyond examining medical experiences of infertility to expose the often overlooked economic and classist underpinnings of reproduction, family, motherhood, and health in contemporary America.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-xii
- Conclusion: (Re)concieving Infertility
- pp. 133-140
- Appendix: Methodology
- pp. 141-148
- References
- pp. 151-160
- About the Author
- pp. 167-168
Additional Information
ISBN
9780813564814
Related ISBN(s)
9780813564807
MARC Record
OCLC
891591008
Pages
180
Launched on MUSE
2014-10-08
Language
English
Open Access
No