Coming to Life: Philosophies of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Mothering

2 Of Courage Born: Reflections on Childbirth and Manly Courage

Various traditional religious and philosophical views, as well as contemporary gender-role socialization, lead us to attribute physical, socially useful courage almost exclusively to men (e.g. "manly courage"). I argue that women's courage has been unfairly overlooked, especially in reproduction and childbirth. Childbirth isn't merely a biological event, however, but is an arena in which the virtue of physical, socially useful courage is exhibited. There may be political costs to extending the concept of manly courage to the arena of childbirth.