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book: You're Doing it Wrong!
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You're Doing it Wrong!

Mothering, Media, and Medical Expertise
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Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2019

About this book

New mothers face a barrage of confounding decisions during the life-cycle of early motherhood which includes... Should they change their diet or mindset to conceive? Exercise while pregnant? Should they opt for a home birth or head for a hospital? Whatever they “choose,” they will be sure to find plenty of medical expertise from health practitioners to social media “influencers” telling them that they’re making a series of mistakes. As intersectional feminists with two small children each, Bethany L. Johnson and Margaret M. Quinlan draw from their own experiences as well as stories from a range of caretakers throughout.
 
You’re Doing it Wrong! investigates the storied history of mothering advice in the media, from the newspapers, magazines, doctors’ records and personal papers of the nineteenth-century to today’s websites, Facebook groups, and Instagram feeds. Johnson and Quinlan find surprising parallels between today’s mothering experts and their Victorian counterparts, but they also explore how social media has placed unprecedented pressures on new mothers, even while it may function as social support for some. They further examine the contentious construction of prenatal and baby care expertise itself, as individuals such as everyone from medical professionals to experienced moms have competed to have their expertise acknowledged in the public sphere.
 
Exploring potential health crises from infertility treatments to “better babies” milestones, You’re Doing it Wrong! provides a provocative look at historical and contemporary medical expertise during conception, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and infant care stages.

Author / Editor information

Bethany L. Johnson is an instructor in history and an associate member to the graduate faculty and research affiliate faculty in the department of communication studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
 
Margaret M. Quinlan is a professor of communication studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Reviews







“Through analyses of historical and contemporary cases, especially the careful study of social media and smart phone apps, Johnson and Quinlan raise important questions about expertise and power relations in defining the good mother.”
— Rima D. Apple, author of Perfect Motherhood: Science and Childbearing in America












— This is Infertility podcast





"Most importantly, [Johnson and Quinlan] dedicate chapters to health scares that parents often face—surrounding preconception, fertility, pregnancy and birth, the postpartum period, infant loss, and early childhood rearing—and discuss how related medical, technical, and nontraditional (what the authors term 'lay expert') advice is frequently contradictory and confusing. What it means to be a good mother may be less clear in a socially opinionated environment that offers varied levels of expert advice; however, the pressure to be a good mother is quite transparent. Recommended." 
— Choice















"This book is the perfect marriage of research, personal experiences, and interviews. It is well-written, thoughtful, relatable, and most importantly — enjoyable to read! I appreciated how inclusive the writing is. It will surely make you stop to think about the advice you give and the unsolicited advice you receive. We could all be a little more mindful and less judgmental."
— LilHuman




"Johnson and Quinlan offer a superb analysis of historical and contemporary renderings of both the lay and expert advice mothers receive."
— Women & Language

— WSGE Radio - "For Your Health and Wellbeing"

“Combining historical insights and of-the-minute analyses of social media platforms, Johnson and Quinlan persuasively argue for a rethinking of what we “know” about expertise and the often-fraught journey of early motherhood.”  
— Kristin Celello, co-editor of Domestic Tensions, National Anxieties




"An amazingly refreshing look back at how the medical advice given in relation to raising children has changed over the ages. It really helps to put everything into perspective, and makes you realize…we probably aren’t doing such a bad job after all!"
— Motherhood: The Real Deal




"You're Doing It Wrong!: Mothering, Media, and Medical Expertise is a rare mix of historical, sociological, and media analysis that sheds light on the processes by which motherhood gets defined. We get a glimpse of the historical underpinnings of our relationship with medical expertise, and how media outlets create cultural consensus about mothering (if they do)."
 
— Julie Des Jardins, author of Women and the Historical Enterprise in America: Gender, Race, and the Politics of Memory



Topics

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    Frontmatter

    i
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  • Publicly Available

    CONTENTS

    vii
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    Introduction

    1
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  • PART I. Conception and (In)fertility
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    1. On Preconception, the Beginning of the Life Cycle of Early Motherhood

    23
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    2. A State of Mind? Fertility Treatment(s) and Expertise

    32
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  • PART II. Pregnancy and Birth
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    3. Red Underwear, Genes, and Monstrosity: Pregnancy and Social Media Surveillance

    57
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    4. “You Women Will Have to Fight for It”: Twilight Sleep and Transactional Childbirth Expertise in Twentieth-Century America

    80
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  • PART III. The Postpartum Period: The “Fourth Trimester”
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    5. “One of the Most Curious Charities in the World”: Infant Incubation as Sideshow and/or Medical Specialty

    101
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    6. Not Just Baby Blues: Historical Realities and Social Media Accounts of Postpartum Care Today

    123
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  • PART IV. Infant Loss and Early Childhood
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    7. Memento Mori in the Victorian Era and on Social Media: The “Right” (Way) to Grieve

    149
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    8. “Better Babies”: Early Twentieth-Century Scientific Babyhood and Constructions of Twenty-First- Century Infancy on Instagram

    172
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    Conclusion

    199
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    Methodological Appendix

    213
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    Acknowledgments

    221
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    Notes

    223
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    Master Reference List

    231
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    Selected Bibliography

    237
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    Index

    251
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    ABOUT THE AUTHORS

    259
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
October 21, 2019
eBook ISBN:
9780813593821
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
View content
https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813593821
eBook ISBN: 9780813593821
Keywords for this book
mother; motherhood; health; parenting; mothering; fertility; premature birth; infant loss; postpartum; health crisis
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
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