Beggars and ChoosersBeggars and Choosers
How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion, and Welfare in the United States
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Book, 2001
Current format, Book, 2001, 1st ed, No Longer Available.Book, 2001
Current format, Book, 2001, 1st ed, No Longer Available. Offered in 0 more formatsIn the late 1960s and early 1970s, advocates of legal abortion mostly used the term rights when describing their agenda. But after Roe v. Wade, their determination to develop a respectable, nonconfrontational movement encouraged many of them to use the word choice-- an easier concept for people weary of various rights movements. At first the distinction in language didn't seem to make much difference-the law seemed to guarantee both. But in the years since, the change has become enormously important. In Beggars and Choosers, Solinger shows how historical distinctions between women of color and white women, between poor and middle-class women, were used in new ways during the era of "choice." Politicians and policy makers began to exclude certain women from the class of "deserving mothers" by using the language of choice to create new public policies concerning everything from Medicaid funding for abortions to family tax credits, infertility treatments, international adoption, teen pregnancy, and welfare. Solinger argues that the class-and-race-inflected guarantee of "choice" is a shaky foundation on which to build our notions of reproductive freedom. Her impassioned argument is for reproductive rights as human rights--as a basis for full citizenship status for women.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, advocates of legal abortion mostly used the term rights when describing their agenda. But after Roe v. Wade, their determination to develop a respectable, nonconfrontational movement encouraged many of them to use the word choice - an easier concept for people weary of rights movements. At first the distinction in language didn't make much difference, because the law seemed to guarantee both. But in the years since, the change has become enormously important.
In her fourth book on reproductive politics, Solinger argues that women who do not have the resources many American claim are requisite for exercising choice must nevertheless have the right to determine for themselves whether or not to be mothers. People do not have to meet a particular demographic profile to want and love their children, she insists. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Presents a feminist history of public policy on abortion since Roe v. Wade, arguing that adoption as an alternative to abortion amounts to the transfer of babies from women of one social class to women in a higher social class.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, advocates of legal abortion mostly used the term rights when describing their agenda. But after Roe v. Wade, their determination to develop a respectable, nonconfrontational movement encouraged many of them to use the word choice - an easier concept for people weary of rights movements. At first the distinction in language didn't make much difference, because the law seemed to guarantee both. But in the years since, the change has become enormously important.
In her fourth book on reproductive politics, Solinger argues that women who do not have the resources many American claim are requisite for exercising choice must nevertheless have the right to determine for themselves whether or not to be mothers. People do not have to meet a particular demographic profile to want and love their children, she insists. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Presents a feminist history of public policy on abortion since Roe v. Wade, arguing that adoption as an alternative to abortion amounts to the transfer of babies from women of one social class to women in a higher social class.
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- New York : Hill and Wang, 2001.
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