Okay, so I finally watched The Business of Being Born (2007; dir. Abby Epstein, exec. producer Ricki Lake). I know, I know: a little late to the party, birth activist wannabe! And yet, here I am, sharing my thoughts on the film, head held high. I really liked it. I did. This documentary explores the [...]
[This post is the fifth in a series of guest posts on contemporary culture and pregnancy, parenting, and children. I love this piece because I'm totally curmudgeonly about television and popular movies--a big annoying snob--and it undercuts that tendency quite nicely. This post comes to us from Shannon R. Wooden, an assistant professor of English at [...]
I LOVE Wallace and Gromit. Like, yes, love in all caps and italicized. The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave, A Grand Day Out, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, even the little “Cracking Contraptions” bits. And, dudes, Eric and I were so excited that a new Wallace and Gromit short was coming out, and then that, [...]
Welcome to First the Egg, a collection of practical information, links, and cultural criticism. This site is a feminist intervention in our rigidly-gendered culture of childbirth and parenting. It aims to provide a nonsexist space for people who want to learn, reflect, commiserate, or laugh about being pregnant, giving birth, and helping children grow up whole and happy.
Feel free to contact me with ideas or questions at
review: Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A. (2000; Marcia Jarmel & Ken Scheider) is a fifty-minute PBS documentary that starts out slowly but certainly gripped me by the end. This film opens with clips showing the standard television rendition of childbirth-as-out-of-control-freak-out and then proceeds with a historical overview that’s presented in sort of a boring way–which is unfortunate, [...]