Natal Signs: Cultural Representations of Preguancy, Birth and Parenting

Nadya Burton

• Publisher: Demeter Press
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN:
  9781772580365
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Gynecology, Obstetrics & Midwifery

Natal Signs: Cultural Representations of Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting explores some of the ways in which reproductive experiences are taken up in the rich arena of cultural production. The chapters in this collection pose questions, unsettle assumptions, and generate broad imaginative spaces for thinking about representation of pregnancy, birth, and parenting. They demonstrate the ways in which practices of consuming and using representations carry within them the productive forces of creation. Bringing together an eclectic and vibrant range of perspectives, this collection offers readers the possibility to rethink and reimagine the diverse meanings and practices of representations of these significant life events. Engaging theoretical reflection and creative image making, the contributors explore a broad range of cultural signs with a focus on challenging authoritative representations in a manner that seeks to reveal rather than conceal the insistently problematic and contestable nature of image culture. Natal Signs gathers an exciting set of critically engaged voices to reflect on some of life's most meaningful moments in ways that affirm natality as the renewed promise of possibility.

Table of contents

• NATAL SIGNS: Cultural Representations of Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting
• Title Page
• Copyright Notice
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• NADYA BURTON Introduction
• 1. LOOKING AT PREGNANCY LAUREN CRUIKSHANK What to Expect When Your Avatar is Expecting Representations of Pregnancy and Birth in Video Games
• MICHELLE WALKS Masculine Pregnancy Butch Lesbians’, Trans Men’s & Genderqueer Individuals’ Experiences1
• K. J. SURKAN That Fat Man is Giving Birth Gender Identity, Reproduction and the Pregnant Body
• DAMIEN W. RIGGS AND DEBORAH DEMPSEY Gay Men’s Narratives of Pregnancy in the Context of Commercial Surrogacy
• BRESCIA NEMBER REID Crone and Moon, Umbilical Cords/Blood Ties
• JENNIFER LONG Imminent
• ELIZABETH ALLEMANG Heroes and Villains Representations of Midwives in Ontario’s Late Twentieth Century Midwifery Revival
• MARY SHARPE AND KORY MCGRATH Spacemaking and Midwifery With, Within, Without
• 2. LOOKING AT BIRTH CLAIRE DION FLETCHER AND CHERYLLEE BOURGEOIS Refusing Delinquency, Reclaiming Power Indigenous Women and Childbirth
• ALYS EINION Resistance and Submission A Critique of Representations of Birth
• ANNA HENNESSEY Representations of Birth and Motherhood as Contemporary Forms of the Sacred
• NATALIE JOLLY Does Labour Mean Work? A Look at the Meaning of Birth in Amish and Non-Amish Society
• JEANNE LYONS Representing Birth An Inquiry into Art Making and Birth Giving: Implications for Teaching Student Midwives
• MARNI KOTAK Birth is a Labour of Art
• ARA PARKER Split Open
• ROSIE ROSENZWEIG Flower of My Flesh
• SUSAN HOGAN, CHARLOTTE BAKER, SHELAGH CORNISH, PAULA MCCLOSKEY AND LISA WATTS Birth Shock Exploring Pregnancy, Birth, and the Transition to Motherhood Using Participatory Arts
• KORY MCGRATH AND LYNN FARRALES Making Meaning of Stillbirth
• 3. LOOKING AT PARENTING BETH OSNES Kids Aren’t Cute
• RACHEL EPP BULLER Paternal Loss and Anticipation An Artist’s Perspective
• REBECCA ENGLISH, RAECHEL JOHNS, AND ANGELA DWYER Two Mums and Some Babies Queering Motherhood
• BETTY ANN MARTIN Go the Fuck to Sleep Prince George? Juxtaposing Cultural Representations of Motherhood and Exploring the Politics of Authenticity
• About the Contributors