Call for Writers: Infertility, Miscarriage and Infant Loss in Film & Television Week

When we talk about motherhood and pregnancy in film and television, images of nurseries, strollers and rosy-cheeked cherubic newborns just might spring to mind. We may not think of the devastation of infertility, miscarriage or infant loss. Yet many people struggle with these hardships on their path to parenthood. 

It’s not that the media doesn’t depict infertility. They do. But too often laden with tropes such as the “Convenient Miscarriage” (so as not to have to depict the supposed controversy of abortion) or the “Law of Inverse Fertility” (that a couple’s fertility is relative to how badly they want a child). Infertility should be incorporated into films and television because it’s a painful reality many women face, not merely as a plot device or punishment or perpetuation of gender stereotypes. In our fertility obsessed culture, tabloids frequently report on female celebs’ baby bumps, reinforcing the notion that a woman’s worth is linked to her fertility. Society seems to view infertility and miscarriage as private and taboo. But the media should portray the full spectrum of reproductive choices and experiences.

So for our next theme week, we’re looking for analyses of Infertility, Miscarriage and Infant Loss in Film and Television. For more, check out:

What Really Happens After a Miscarriage via XO Jane

Inconceivable: Black Infertility via Crunk Feminist Collective

TV Parents and the Problem of Infertility via Acculturated

Here are some suggestions of films and TV series — but feel free to propose your own ideas!

Downton Abbey
Juno
Sex and the City
Baby Mama
Friends
Mother and Child
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Grey’s Anatomy
Prometheus
Children of Men
Gone with the Wind
Diary of a Mad Black Woman
The Other Woman
Mad Men
Julie & Julia
Secrets and Lies
Raising Arizona
The Help
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marley & Me
Country Strong
For Colored Girls
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
Desperate Housewives
All in the Family
Orphan
Marley & Me
21 Grams
House, M.D.
The Tudors
Six Feet Under
The Handmaid’s Tale
American Horror Story
Brothers & Sisters
Away We Go 
Boardwalk Empire
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Out of Africa
Up
Rabbit Hole

Here are some basic guidelines for guest writers:
–Pieces should be between 700 and 2,000 words.
–Include images (with captions) and links in your piece, along with a title for your article.
–Send your piece in the text of an email, attaching all images, no later than Friday, April 19th.
–Include a 2-3 sentence bio for placement at the end of your piece.

Email us at btchflcks(at)gmail(dot)com if you’d like to contribute a review. We accept original pieces or cross-posts. 
We look forward to reading your submissions!

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