Abstract
Because the overwhelming majority of births in the United States (U.S.) occur in hospitals and other medical settings rather than at home, the only births many U.S. women see before giving birth themselves are those shown in media, such as films and television series. Using thematic analysis of 111 media pieces consisting of fictional films and television show episodes that feature childbirth and were released in the U.S. from 1988 to 2023, we investigate what these depictions communicate about women during childbirth and whether these portrayals have changed over time. Overall, we find that the depictions in these movies and television show episodes rely on institutionalized medicine, emotionally intense labor and deliveries, objectification of women, and gendered behaviors during childbirth. These depictions have changed little over the time period we examined and convey the strong preservation of the gender structure.
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Notes
Overall, we focus in this paper on birthing women (i.e., individuals who identify as women).
West and Zimmerman’s (1987) classic work on “doing gender” also can be used to understand the enactment of gender-normative behaviors. Because we are studying fictional media rather than people in real life, we do not focus on the “doing gender” framework in our study.
For evidence that the relationship has weakened between television viewing and gender attitudes about the public sphere but not about the private sphere, see Hermann et al. (2022).
Nonbinary or transgender characters made up 0.3% of major characters on broadcast and streaming programs in 2021–2022 (Lauzen, 2022).
Both the medical and natural childbirth models can be criticized. Natural childbirth can involve methods, such as Lamaze, that require women to be compliant to others (e.g., to someone serving as their Lamaze “coach”; Katz Rothman, 1982), and women who initially planned for a natural childbirth and end up choosing or requiring medical interventions may feel that they have “failed” (Roberts & Benedictis, 2021, p. 255).
As of this writing, viewing U.S. reality-based television programs focused on childbirth that were produced during the early 2000s (e.g., A Baby Story, Maternity Ward) can now require purchasing subscription or streaming services. Current U.S.-produced, reality-based TV programs set in hospital emergency rooms may show childbirth, but it is not the main focus of these programs. Reality-based TV programs focused on childbirth have been recently or are currently being filmed in other countries (e.g., Belfast Midwives and 24-Hour Baby Hospital in Dublin).
June (2019) is a short film and A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby (2019) is a film that was first released on a streaming platform. The 29 other films in our sample are feature length, and to the best of our knowledge, were first released in the U.S. in theatres. Television shows included a few that were a limited series or a mini-series (e.g., Inventing Anna). It also should be noted that if a childbirth story spanned two episodes of a television show, we usually analyzed both episodes but treated them as separate pieces in our sample.
A second coder was not used for the pilot research.
In the findings section, we give the year that a television series episode was first shown or a movie was first released in theatres or on a streaming platform (if it was not shown in theatres) in the U.S.
Like Foss (2023), our sample includes some pieces (e.g., Apocalypto, A Quiet Place) in which giving birth in a medical setting is not an option (e.g., because the movie has an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic setting). But as Foss argues, such media pieces can nonetheless convey messages about how desirable (or not) the medical model of childbirth is.
The most extreme examples in our study of women’s objectification come from The Handmaid’s Tale, which depicts a totalitarian society where the few still-fertile women are forced to have children for the men “commanders” and their sterile wives. A handmaid’s name indicates the commander to whom she is assigned.
A meta-analysis of studies from 18 countries found prevalences of tocophobia (fear of childbirth) ranging from 3.7% to 43%, with a “pooled prevalence of 14%” (O’Connell et al., 2017, p. 912). Many women with tocophobia elect to have cesareans (i.e., caesareans that are not medically necessary) or other interventions as a means of quelling their fears (Kanellopoulos & Gourounti, 2022).
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Appendix 1: Sample of films and televison episodes
Appendix 1: Sample of films and televison episodes
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Chiareli, I.A., Beutel, A.M. What to Expect When You’re Delivering? How the Gender Structure is Reinforced Through Fictional Depictions of Childbirth. Gend. Issues 41, 14 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-024-09330-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-024-09330-y