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Designing Motherhood

Things that Make and Break Our Births
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( 36 ratings, 6 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Designing Motherhood by Michelle Millar Fisher and Amber Winick explores the intersection of design and the experience of motherhood. The book delves into how various objects and technologies have shaped the experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting throughout history. It examines the societal impacts and cultural narratives surrounding these designs, offering insightful commentary on their evolution and significance.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you are interested in the intersection of design, science, and societal evolution, particularly in the realm of maternal and family health. It explores how design has influenced experiences of motherhood through history, offering insights that are both enlightening and thought-provoking for those curious about the cultural and scientific dimensions of parenting and caregiving.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

More than eighty designs—iconic, archaic, quotidian, and taboo—that have defined the arc of human reproduction.

While birth often brings great joy, making babies is a knotty enterprise. The designed objects that surround us when it comes to menstruation, birth control, conception, pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood vary as oddly, messily, and dramatically as the stereotypes suggest. This smart, image-rich, fashion-forward, and design-driven book explores more than eighty designs—iconic, conceptual, archaic, titillating, emotionally charged, or just plain strange—that have defined the relationships between people and babies during the past century.

Each object tells a story. In striking images and engaging text, Designing Motherhood unfolds the compelling design histories and real-world uses of the objects that shape our reproductive experiences. The authors investigate the baby carrier, from the Snugli to BabyBjörn, and the (re)discovery of the varied traditions of baby wearing; the tie-waist skirt, famously worn by a pregnant Lucille Ball on I Love Lucy, and essential for camouflaging and slowly normalising a public pregnancy; the home pregnancy kit, and its threat to the authority of male gynaecologists; and more. Memorable images—including historical ads, found photos, and drawings—illustrate the crucial role design and material culture plays throughout the arc of human reproduction.

The book features a prologue by Erica Chidi and a foreword by Alexandra Lange.

Contributors include Luz Argueta-Vogel, Zara Arshad, Nefertiti Austin, Juliana Rowen Barton, Lindsey Beal, Thomas Beatie, Caitlin Beach, Maricela Becerra, Joan E. Biren, Megan Brandow-Faller, Khiara M. Bridges, Heather DeWolf Bowser, Sophie Cavoulacos, Meegan Daigler, Anna Dhody, Christine Dodson, Henrike Dreier, Adam Dubrowski, Michelle Millar Fisher, Claire Dion Fletcher, Tekara Gainey, Lucy Gallun, Angela Garbes, Judy S. Gelles, Shoshana Batya Greenwald, Robert D. Hicks, Porsche Holland, Andrea Homer-Macdonald, Alexis Hope, Malika Kashyap, Karen Kleiman, Natalie Lira, Devorah L Marrus, Jessica Martucci, Sascha Mayer, Betsy Joslyn Mitchell, Ginger Mitchell, Mark Mitchell, Aidan O'Connor, Lauren Downing Peters, Nicole Pihema, Alice Rawsthorn, Helen Barchilon Redman, Airyka Rockefeller, Julie Rodelli, Raphaela Rosella, Loretta J. Ross, Ofelia Perez Ruiz, Hannah Ryan, Karin Satrom, Tae Smith, Orkan Telhan, Stephanie Tillman, Sandra Oyarzo Torres, Malika Verma, Erin Weisbart, Deb Willis, Carmen Winant, Brendan Winick, and Flaura Koplin Winston.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Designing Motherhood by Michelle Millar Fisher and Amber Winick is praised for its groundbreaking exploration of the relationship between design and aspects of motherhood, such as fertility, childbirth, and reproductive health. The book comes with striking visuals and compelling stories that challenge the stigma surrounding objects related to these themes. It offers a comprehensive analysis of the impact of design on motherhood while prompting readers to consider how design influences their own experiences. This work not only presents a history but also invites reflection on redesigning practices to better serve diverse maternal experiences.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780262044899

Publisher: MIT Press Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 14 September 2021

Country: United States

Imprint: MIT Press

Illustration: 125 colour illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 178.0mm

Height: 254.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 344

About the Author

Michelle Millar Fisher, a curator and architecture and design historian, is Ronald C. and Anita L. Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She lecture frequently on design, people, and the politics of things. Amber Winick is a writer, design historian, and recipient of two Fulbright Awards. She has lived, researched, and written about family and child-related designs, policies, and practices around the world.

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