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Best regards, Andrew Stewart - - - Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/ Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: March 16, 2020 at 12:46:17 PM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Early-America]: Hayden on Doyle, 'Maternal Bodies: > Redefining Motherhood in Early America' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Nora Doyle. Maternal Bodies: Redefining Motherhood in Early America. > Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press, 2018. xii + 272 > pp. $32.95 (paper), ISBN 978-1-4696-3719-8. > > Reviewed by Erica Hayden (Trevecca Nazarene University) > Published on H-Early-America (March, 2020) > Commissioned by Joshua J. Jeffers > > Maternal Bodies: Redefining Motherhood in Early America by Nora Doyle > is a stunningly researched, well-argued study on the experiences of > motherhood in British colonial America and the early United States. > Looking at the period from 1750 to 1850, Doyle examines the break > between the lived and imagined experiences of motherhood, creating a > series of paired chapters on pregnancy and childbirth, breastfeeding, > and the portrayal of maternal bodies in popular culture. Read in the > context of current debates over motherhood and maternal and infant > health, the book offers a particularly timely lesson on historical > continuity. > > Doyle argues that feminine ideology shifted drastically during this > century, moving from a focus on the reproductive capacity of women to > a deep cultural importance of motherhood, placing it "at the center > of American notions of virtuous womanhood" (pp. 3-4). Furthermore, > Doyle centers her study on the "role the body played in defining > motherhood" and the tensions between the ways women themselves talked > about their experiences with pregnancy, childbirth, and > breastfeeding, and "cultural prescriptions for how the maternal body > was supposed to look, act, and feel" through print culture (p. 5). > Doyle lays out three major issues that her study explores: the role > of historical continuity through the century, the changing portrayals > of motherhood tied to the changing role of women's work, and the > strong linkages between the rise of sentimental motherhood and the > definitions of race and class. She deftly weaves these issues into > her narrative and analysis while using a vast array of > correspondence, personal papers, and published literature to > highlight the tensions between lived and imagined experiences. > > By focusing on prescriptive literature from the growing print culture > of the era and the lived experiences of women throughout the phases > of motherhood, _Maternal Bodies_ offers an effective methodology for > managing the vast body of source. Doyle argues that the chapters > focusing on print culture "depict the gradual emergence of the ... > sentimental mother" while the others focus on lived experiences to > show the "underlying continuity in women's descriptions of the > physical experiences of motherhood" (p. 9). > > In the first two chapters, Doyle examines the early stages of > motherhood: pregnancy and childbirth. Chapter 1 focuses on medical > treatises, and Doyle argues that the "reproductive work of white > middle-class and elite women was gradually written out of medical > texts" as the practitioners focused on the womb itself and their role > in the childbirth experience (p. 17). By reducing the importance of > the work of women in this experience, the women were effectively > disembodied. She describes how the womb became central to medical > texts. Ascribed power and agency, the womb came to be seen as > "imperious and dangerous," displacing the woman herself as the focus > of women's reproduction (pp. 35-38). It must be noted that this > disembodiment only applied to "respectable" white women. In one > jarring example, Doyle notes that a surgeon would cover a white woman > during a procedure, and yet would subject an enslaved woman to a much > more public exam, without affording her even a modicum of modesty > (pp. 42-43). > > Contrary to the medical texts discussed in chapter 1, the women in > the following chapter "placed the work of their bodies at the center > of their vision of motherhood" (p. 52). As expected, the lived > experiences of these women during pregnancy and childbirth have a > more realistic portrayal in their own writings, which demonstrate the > vicissitudes of a nearly constant cycle of pregnancy, childbirth, and > breastfeeding over many years. The sources in this chapter are > largely limited to middle-class and elite white women who left behind > correspondence and written records. Enslaved women, however, also > make up an important element of this chapter, enabling the author to > provide a more comprehensive analysis by showing how reproduction was > viewed in the larger context of enslavement: "their bodies were > defined as commodities to be bought, sold, and forcibly bred" (p. > 54). For enslaved women, "fertility represented a literal form of > accounting" as proof of good fertility fetched higher prices at > auction and brought wealth to slave owners (p. 58). > > Perhaps the most compelling topic appears in chapters 3 and 4: > breastfeeding. This is an intriguing topic in no small measure > because of the modern debates about breastfeeding. Chapter 3 focuses > on the idea that the prescriptive authors "created an ideological > realm in which the maternal body and maternal virtue merged around > the act of breastfeeding" (p. 86). Thus, being a good mother was tied > to the act of breastfeeding. The advice literature of the day noted > that not only was breastfeeding good for maternal health and that of > infants, but that it could also bring a "physically and emotionally > pleasurable experience for women" (p. 87). Over time, the act of > breastfeeding went from being a duty performed by responsible mothers > to a symbol of the sentimental mother. The act of breastfeeding > became a marker by which women and their maternal nature were judged: > some elite women were vilified for choosing a wet nurse over feeding > their own children to protect their lifestyle, as were those > working-class women who sold their milk to make ends meet, seemingly > neglecting their own infant's health (p. 94). > > In chapter 4, Doyle explores the realities of breastfeeding. While > some themes continue from the previous chapter, this chapter > highlights the pain, stress, and tribulations associated with > breastfeeding--a "privilege" that could take its toll. Being able to > breastfeed your child was seen as one facet of being "true mothers" > (pp. 115, 116). What follows, then, is an important discussion of who > was excluded from this category, namely women who hired wet nurses or > were employed as wet nurses. For some women, the pain associated with > breastfeeding proved to be too much for their own health and they > were forced to give it up. In these cases, Doyle notes, they > expressed little guilt over the decision, having tried everything > before stopping. Although wet nurses provided a valuable service to > some mothers, Doyle observes that "if the definition of a good mother > was one whose body provided life and nourishment for her children, > the very function of a wet nurse was antithetical to good mothering" > (p. 128). Hired wet nurses, like enslaved women, were examples of how > the maternal body became commodified, sometimes at the expense of > their own infants' health due to lack of nutrients from their > enslavement or selling services to others out of necessity. A key > argument is that women's views of wet nursing changed from the 1750s > to the 1850s. In the earlier period, women viewed wet nurses as "part > of their community of friends and acquaintances" yet later "women > were more likely to define their wet nurses as troublesome laboring > bodies, exposing the race and class biases that played an > increasingly important role in the way women defined themselves as > mothers and how they viewed other women" (p. 135). > > The final pairing of chapters looks at the role of motherhood as > portrayed and visualized in the burgeoning print culture of the era. > Fiction, poetry, essays, and images portrayed the sentimental mother. > These examples in print culture served to "deemphasize the > physicality of the mother and to celebrate her emotional and > spiritual attributes" in what Doyle argues is the "_transcendent > mother_" (p. 148). Doyle then explores four main types of mothers > found in these sources: "the _mourning mother_, the _fond mother_, > the _Madonna_, and the _rustic mother_" (p. 152). Through these > publications, the idea of the transcendent mother was solidified and > "demonstrated that white middle-class culture was rooted in Christian > piety and genteel values" (p. 173). The final chapter then turns to > the image of the slave mother, utilizing antislavery literature to > explore the sentimentalism and embodiment used to portray this group > of mothers. Doyle argues that this genre of literature appealed to > the sympathies and emotion of the white northern population, > particularly emphasizing "the bonds of womanhood and motherhood" > creating a "universal vision of humanity" (p. 176). Whereas white > women's maternity became transcendent, enslaved women's maternity was > bound to their corporeality through the violence and forced labor > associated with enslavement. The enslaved women were "not allowed to > perform the sacred work of motherhood, for their emotional power as > mothers was deemed ... to be less useful than the power of their > working bodies" (pp. 188-89). There was no transcendence, effectively > barring this group of women from the "power and influence attributed > to the white mother" (p. 201). > > As Doyle concludes, she notes again the shift from the practical > nature of motherhood to the ethereal. Yet the story of motherhood > obviously did not end in the 1850s. She notes the continuity of some > issues, such as breastfeeding, that persist to the present day, and a > broader question of which bodies are suited for motherhood. Other > issues worth mentioning are the continuing problems of maternal > mortality and access to healthcare, especially among populations of > color in the United States, yet Doyle's book certainly points to the > foundations of some of these issues as she explores the experiences > of enslaved women. _Maternal Bodies_ is an important and worthwhile > read not only for the historical context of motherhood but also the > lessons to be learned for the present day. > > Although this might be extremely difficult, I would have liked to see > more examples from immigrant women to round out the already robust > research in this book. Aside from this small quibble, _Maternal > Bodies_ is an important study for women's studies as well as the > history of the colonial era through the antebellum decades. I will > certainly be incorporating Doyle's work into my American Women's > History course in the future. > > Citation: Erica Hayden. Review of Doyle, Nora, _Maternal Bodies: > Redefining Motherhood in Early America_. H-Early-America, H-Net > Reviews. March, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54419 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
