Knock me up, knock me down
Subtitle: images of pregnancy in Hollywood film
By: Kelly Oliver
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 232
ISBN-13: 9780231161084; 9780231161091; 9780231530705
Subjects: Motion pictures; Pregnancy in motion pictures; Feminist theory
Description: The image of a heavily pregnant woman, once considered ugly and indecent, is now common to Hollywood film. Kelly Oliver investigates this curious shift and its reflection of changing attitudes toward women's roles in reproduction and the family. Reading various films, the book investigates pregnancy as a vehicle for romance, a political issue of choice, a representation of the hosting of others, a prism for fears of miscegenation, and a screen for modern technological anxieties.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: from shameful to sexy-pregnant bellies exploding onto the screen; title: Academic feminism versus Hollywood feminism: how modest maternity becomes pregnant glam; title: MomCom as RomCom: pregnancy as a vehicle for romance; title: Accident and excess: the "choice" to have a baby; title: Pregnant horror: gestating the other(s) within; title: "What's the worst that can happen?" techno-pregnancies versus real pregnancies; title: Conclusion: Twilight family values.