Barren in the Promised Land

Childless Americans and the Pursuit of Happiness

Author: Elaine Tyler May
ISBN: 0674061829

Chronicling the shifts in public attitudes towards reproduction, this book traces attitudes from colonial times to the 1990s. In colonial days barrenness was associated with sin, from here the progression is traced to the laws of compulsory sterilization in the early twentieth century, the baby craze of the 1950s, the rise in voluntary childlessness in the 1990s, and the increasing reliance on reproductive technologies. The author reveals the intersection between public life and the most private part of life - sexuality, procreation, and the family.

Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publish Date: 1997

Subjects: Family & Relationships / Life Stages / Infants & Toddlers, Health & Fitness / Infertility, Social Science / Sociology / General

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Women's Center (Location: Pregnancy Loss/Infertility)