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:
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!
Prometheus
The Other Woman
Julie & Julia
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Up
–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.
Private Practice takes the cake with infertility and pregnancy issues.
Would you like to write about it, Katrina?
Maybe, I’m not the most confident writer
or UI couold do it, maybe!