Misconceptions by Naomi Wolf

I've only finished one-eighth of Naomi Wolf's book Misconceptions, which is largely a "feminist" exploration of pregnancy and childbirth. I put feminism in quotes, because what most of the world classifies as feminism, I classify as common sense and women standing up for themselves necessarily in a world of patriarchy.

Anyway, I wanted to tell my readers that if you haven't picked up the book Misconceptions yet, now is the time! I've never read anything by Naomi Wolf so far, (I meant to back in the ninth grade when we read an article about her "extreme feminist views" which didn't seem extreme to me at all.) But this is the first book of hers I've picked up, and I'm so glad that I did!

Naomi Wolf points out all the ways the modern American woman has her basic rights and power to chose things for herself taken away from her during pregnancy and childbirth. She talks about her own experiences; how every time she questioned the necessity of a test or procedure during her own pregnancy, how the doctors and nurses giving her the test or procedure made her feel stupid for even asking about basic things such as safety and necessity, and how they 'dumbed down" their explanations to her and made it clear that they, not her, where in charge of her basic reproductive rights/expressions.

She also rips a new asshole for What to Expect When You are Expecting, which is awesome, since that book is one of the scariest sources of "information" available to pregnant women. Not only does What to Expect write as though the baby needs to be protected from the mom; for example, they write about alcohol as though all women where wanton alcoholic sluts that need to be saved from themselves. What to Expect is
at turns all about scaring the bejeesus out of pregnant ladies, fear-mongering and pushing women to medicalize their pregnancies as much as possible. At the same time, What to Expect glosses over really important stuff, telling ladies not to worry, that everything will be ok...something no medical expert should try to promise. We at midwifery school despise What to Expect as well, because we mostly believe in giving good, factual information to women and letting them make informed choices, not scaring the hell out of them to get them to do stuff we think is good for them.

And, she talks about racism when it comes to adoption. How black babies born in the US get adopted more in Germany then here, because white yuppies in the US won't touch a black baby...how moms would rather adopt a Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean baby before adopting an African American or Hispanic baby, how even babies in our culture have become a commodity to be bought and sold, and how many babies are "more valuable" then many others...

She also tells some very sad stories about moms desperate to get rid of unwanted babies...about one teenage mom who drops her newborn out of a second story window onto a cement sidewalk to kill it, about moms who try to flush babies, moms who abandon and lock up babies, babies in dumpsters, babies left in hospitals...she starkly compares this with moms trying anything (fertility drugs, surrogate moms, other peoples eggs,) just to have "a baby of their own."

What the fuck? When I read things like that, I realize having my own biological kids is almost evil when so many kids would love my love...I'll take any unwanted baby...

Love ya,
Carrot