We Are Animals
Essays on the Nature and Politics of Motherhood
Published on 31. October 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-59534-301-7 (ISBN)
Description
When Jennifer Case became pregnant unexpectedly with her second child, she was overwhelmed at the prospect of caring for another child in a society with high expectations and low support for mothers. She sought to reclaim control over, if not her changing body, then at least her rapidly declining mental health. Immersing herself in research, Case learned that the United States has one of the highest maternal death rates among developed countries. One in every five women develops a mental health issue as a result of pregnancy. It became clear to her that in order to address the sexism and isolation mothers face-including the racism that further marginalizes women of color-we must recognize these as social problems that affect us all
We Are Animals draws attention to these issues by examining key moments in Case's life where her experience as both a woman in twenty-first-century America and a child-bearing mammal, and the conflicts between these two identities, were brought into sharp relief. From the surprising salve of parasocial interactions on baby forums to the not so surprisingly intertwined history of industrial dairy farming and wearable breast pumps, Case explores an array of realities that give historical and cultural context to the experience of motherhood.
The essays collected here offer a balm for women who have struggled in silence over childbirth trauma, conflicted responses to motherhood, or a deeply felt intuition that what their bodies needed as mothers did not match what society provided. They also offer a much needed, nuanced perspective for policymakers, activists, and medical professionals who continue to shape women's experience of motherhood.
We Are Animals draws attention to these issues by examining key moments in Case's life where her experience as both a woman in twenty-first-century America and a child-bearing mammal, and the conflicts between these two identities, were brought into sharp relief. From the surprising salve of parasocial interactions on baby forums to the not so surprisingly intertwined history of industrial dairy farming and wearable breast pumps, Case explores an array of realities that give historical and cultural context to the experience of motherhood.
The essays collected here offer a balm for women who have struggled in silence over childbirth trauma, conflicted responses to motherhood, or a deeply felt intuition that what their bodies needed as mothers did not match what society provided. They also offer a much needed, nuanced perspective for policymakers, activists, and medical professionals who continue to shape women's experience of motherhood.
Reviews / Votes
"Mothering in the late capitalist ruins can be, counterintuitively, extremely lonely work. Jennifer Case's brilliant essay collection not only describes how and why this is true but also remedies some of that resounding isolation. Case keeps company with her reader, offering the reparative gift of her attention and fine wordsmithing. Like Louise Erdrich and Anne Lamott, she turns the experience of early motherhood into literature."- Elizabeth Rush, author of The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth"A searing and beautiful portrait of motherhood in America. With propulsive prose and stunning detail, Jennifer Case chronicles not just the birth of her two children but also the transformation that women undergo as they learn to care for and love their children." - Michaeleen Doucleff, author of Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans
"Jennifer Case's lyrical, absorbing essay collection offers many kinds of birth stories-hospital births, home births, and the harrowing political landscape of forced birth. Yet her most piercing, revelatory attention is applied to the birth of the mother-this person who, while nursing, must learn to eat with a nondominant hand; this person whose safety and care are unjustly shaped by race and class; this person who navigates a new life that is so often fearful and lonely. Through it all, Case makes a wise, persistent case for community, collectivism, and hope. I felt the welcome possibility, in these pages, of a less lonely future for all of us." - Belle Boggs, author of The Art of Waiting: On Fertility, Medicine, and Motherhood
"Women's birth stories-like our bodies-struggle against cultural conditioning, paternalism, and the tensions wrought by sexism and sex differences. It is so important that we keep telling them, as Case has done in We Are Animals, a satisfying, insightful journey through early motherhood that is kept grounded with fresh reportage and fascinating biological and historical findings." - Jennifer Block, author of Pushed: Why Health Care Needs a Feminist Revolution
"Drawing on her own experience, her wide reading, and her ample talents as a writer, Jennifer Case has produced a searing, illuminating account of motherhood in all its cultural and biological complexity." - Scott Russell Sanders, author of The Way of Imagination: Essays
"Eloquent, beautiful, moving, and profound." - Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity
"We Are Animals" is not an op-ed. It's one Arkansas-based woman's candid account of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood, touching in frank terms on her feelings about her pregnant body, the pain of childbirth, antenatal and postnatal depression, the psychological effects of an unintended pregnancy, and the opportunity costs of breastfeeding."-Amy R. Martin, Southern Review of Books
"Seeing ourselves reflected and refracted in other mothers' narratives becomes reassuring, normalizing, humanizing, emboldening, and, in many cases, essential for survival."
- Erin Wood, the Rumpus
"Because these essays delve into the unique duality and conflicting feelings of motherhood, they offer a lifeline."
- Erin Wood, the Rumpus
" Mothers reading this will feel seen and heard, and those who cannot know this experience will have their eyes opened and preconceptions challenged."- Elizabeth Soule, Southern Literary Review
"Woven together with beautifully written personal stories and reflections, these essays cover topics ranging from birth experiences and trauma, to prenatal depression, to the challenges of breastfeeding, to unplanned pregnancy, and include deep examinations of the flawed medical institution and current political issues our country faces today."- Elizabeth Soule, Southern Literary Review
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
San Antonio
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 213 mm
Width: 137 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
295 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-59534-301-7 (9781595343017)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jennifer Case teaches creative writing at the University of Central Arkansas. She also serves as an assistant nonfiction editor at Terrain.org and is the supervising editor of Arkana. She is the author of Sawbill, and her work has appeared in Orion, the Sycamore Review, and Fourth River. She lives in central Arkansas.
Content
We Are Animals ......................................................... 4
BabyCenter: An Essay on Place ....................................... 19
On Contemplating a Second Child .................................... 34
Unintended............................................................... 44
A Political Pregnancy ................................................... 49
Birth (Un)Medicalized: A Case Study.................................. 65
A Cost Accounting of Birth ............................................. 83
To Hatch Intimacy from Despair....................................... 95
Birthwork in the Bible Belt............................................... 110
On the Silence of Regret .................................................. 129
On Breast Pumps and Bovines ........................................... 139
The Mother-Infant Dyad ................................................. 158
On Race and Motherhood in America.................................. 176
Animals on the Eve of Extinction....................................... 187
Additional Thoughts on Control.......................................... 198
Message for the Animal Mother....................................... 213
BabyCenter: An Essay on Place ....................................... 19
On Contemplating a Second Child .................................... 34
Unintended............................................................... 44
A Political Pregnancy ................................................... 49
Birth (Un)Medicalized: A Case Study.................................. 65
A Cost Accounting of Birth ............................................. 83
To Hatch Intimacy from Despair....................................... 95
Birthwork in the Bible Belt............................................... 110
On the Silence of Regret .................................................. 129
On Breast Pumps and Bovines ........................................... 139
The Mother-Infant Dyad ................................................. 158
On Race and Motherhood in America.................................. 176
Animals on the Eve of Extinction....................................... 187
Additional Thoughts on Control.......................................... 198
Message for the Animal Mother....................................... 213