Misconception Social Class and Infertility in America
Misconception: Social Class and Infertility in America

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 exa...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bell, Ann V. (Author)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: New Brunswick, NJ Rutgers University Press [2014]
Series:Families in Focus
Subjects:
SOCIAL SCIENCE / General
Fertility, Human > United States
Infertility, Female > United States
Poor women > United States
Social classes > United States
Online Access:DE-1046
DE-859
DE-860
DE-739
DE-473
DE-1043
DE-858
Volltext
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. Watch a video with Ann V. Bell: Watch video now. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz7qiPyuyiM)
Item Description:Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 04. Sep 2019)
Physical Description:1 online resource
ISBN:9780813564814

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