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Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood
by Naomi Wolf
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Anchor (2003-02-04)
ISBN: 0385497458
EAN: 9780385497459
Dewy Decimal #: 618.20019
Paperback: 352 pages
Release Date: 2003-02-04
SKU: 080204009
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: This First Printing copy is in good condition. No visible markings, highlights, underlining, tears to text. Tight spine. No Dust Jacket. Top/bottom back Soft Cover edge has a crease. Minimum/moderate shelf/edge wear. Very interesting copy worth having at an affordable price. (L5-2)
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
In The Beauty Myth the fearless Naomi Wolf revolutionized the way we think about beauty. In Misconceptions, she demythologizes motherhood and reveals the dangers of common assumptions about childbirth. With uncompromising honesty she describes how hormones eroded her sense of independence, ultrasounds tested her commitment to abortion rights, and the keepers of the OB/GYN establishment lacked compassion. The weeks after her first daughter’s birth taught her how society, employers, and even husbands can manipulate new mothers. She had bewildering post partum depression, but learned that a surprisingly high.percentage of women experience it.
Wolf’s courageous willingness to talk about the unexpected difficulties of childbirth will help every woman become a more knowledgeable planner of her pregnancy and better prepare her for the challenges of balancing a career, freedom, and a growing family. Invaluable in its advice to parents, Misconceptions speaks to anyone connected–personally, medically, or professionally–to a new mother.
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Customer Reviews
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I feel guilty
Rating  (1)
Date: 2008-09-29
0 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Let me say first that I have not finished this book. I don't know if I ever will. I pick it up when I feel guilty that I bought it and can't seem to finish it, but then put it down when I begin to feel guilty that I am wasting my precious seconds on earch reading such depressing, whiney work. A few good points have been made - as other reveiwers have pointed out - but the majority of the book is a pity party and I just want no part of it. It came highly recommended from a doula and I am extremely disappointed.
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Well-written and comforting for any new pregnant mom
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-03-27
Ms. Wolf thoughtfully captures many of the emotions that pregnant and new moms encounter (although we may not all encounter them at the same time), as well as shedding light on some of the falsehoods us moms are taught by society, doctors, hospitals, hollywood, and other moms. I found it extremely enlightening and helpful as a stay-at-home mother of one amazing daughter and pregnant with another!
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Great book to begin a women;r journey into motherhood
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-02-11
I thought the book was wonderful. I read it while pregnant and I moved from complete ignorance of childbirth in America to a very knowledgeable. I am so glad I read this book. There are few parts I disagree with or find questionable, but it is a very informative and important book for anyone who is expecting. definitely worth the read. I do agree that though she does address poor people's experience in being a mother and childbirth, it is mostly about middle to upper class. my hospital experience was very similar to how she describes, i did as much as I could to have a birth my way, but next time I would NEVER go to a hospital. Routines and routines. You may have a birth plan but they are used to doing things a certain way and will usually force you to conform instead of them.
watch "Business of being born"
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OPENED MY EYES
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-09-20
6 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
If you're pregnant and don't care if your ob/gyn pumps you full of meds and performs an episiotomy on you and/or a c-section in order to better fit your baby's birth into his busy schedule, then don't read this book. My wife is probably as far from being a rabid feminist as a person can be. But she does happen to have this wacky idea that giving birth ought to be something a woman can do without a whole lot of unnecessary medical interventions, if she wants to. My wife has given birth naturally to all 3 of our kids -- no problems whatsoever for either mom or babies. And every time she's had to fight off the ob/gyn's suggested interventions. Interventions she might not have been able to argue against had she not read Naomi's book and other resources and educated herself about the American medical establishment's typical ob/gyn practices. To blow off this book as a lot of feminist hooey is akin to plugging your ears, covering your eyes and ranting NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA...I CAN'T HEAR YOU! Read this book, get informed and then make up your own mind as to how you want to approach your own berthing experience.
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Fabulous reporting, no whining to be found
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-08-28
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
Hopefully, you've reached this review, because to read some of the other reviews on this page you might dismiss Naomi Wolf "Misconceptions." This book is a wonderful piece of reporting on the issues surrounding pregnancy, fertility, birth, and the issues that come after birth (no pun intended) for the women in this country. Although, some of the experiences described are uncomfortable and upsetting, it does not make the experiences any less true. All mothers either have had an experience or know a woman who has had an experience similar to the experiences described in this book. To report on these truths (which, by the way, doesn't mean she is reporting the truth for "all" women), is the first step toward remedying the problems.
The truth is that there ARE issues with OB/GYN and postpartum healthcare in this country. You need not look any further than your front page to know that something is wrong. In Pennsylvania, for example, the OB/GYN practices can not stay afloat because the practices can not pay the malpractice insurance. As well, the insurance companies refuse to pay the full cost for a woman's labor and delivery in hospitals. I repeat. Insurance companies will not pay the full cost for one of the most important hospital stays that a woman may ever have in her life, a hospital stay that is required for the propagation of the species and the insurance companies will not pay it. Does this sound like a problem to you?
It certainly isn't new reporting that the medical community sometimes takes the "easy" way out when it comes to women's medical issues. Thankfully, things have started to change, but we are not there yet. Reading this book will give a new mother a "leg-up" on what has been happening in these new areas of her life. Isn't better to arm a new mother with information before she gets started in the process so she can have a say in what happens during HER reproductive life?
By the way, the whole section on "Calling It Fair" is right on the money. The research on day-care during the time of "Rosy the Riveter" is fantastic - I would like to see a book on that topic alone! These gems give women a great perspective to change things for themselves from the beginning! Don't miss a great eye-opener and, hopefully, a catalyst for change.
It Gets Easier!: And Other Lies We Tell New Mothers
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