Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood

Naomi Wolf

May 2003 · Sold by Anchor

About this ebook

In Misconceptions, bestselling author Naomi Wolf she demythologizes motherhood and reveals the dangers of common assumptions about childbirth. With uncompromising honesty she describes how hormones eroded her sense of independence, ultrasounds tested her commitment to abortion rights, and the keepers of the OB/GYN establishment lacked compassion. The weeks after her first daughter’s birth taught her how society, employers, and even husbands can manipulate new mothers. She had bewildering post partum depression, but learned that a surprisingly high percentage of women experience it.

Wolf’s courageous willingness to talk about the unexpected difficulties of childbirth will help every woman become a more knowledgeable planner of her pregnancy and better prepare her for the challenges of balancing a career, freedom, and a growing family. Invaluable in its advice to parents, Misconceptions speaks to anyone connected–personally, medically, or professionally–to a new mother.

Ratings and reviews

What I don't understand is how becoming pregnant with a wanted pregnancy somehow makes Wolf an expert on abortion. I can understand that these questions will inevitably come up once becoming pregnant, especially for someone who has thought in depth about abortion and claims to be pro-choice. But her understanding of the reality of abortion seems to be lacking, incomplete. She falsely boils it down to simple mistakes, "a condom left in the drawar," when it is vastly more complicated and emotional. Misunderstandings such as these contribute to much of the stigma, controversy, and misinformation surrounding abortion, further shrouding it in mystery. She writes as if she is an expert on the subject of abortion just because she was once pro-choice, without ever having walked in those shoes herself. And now being pregnant herself somehow entitles her to judge other women. Her sudden know-it-all attitude seems haughty and causes me to question the rest of the so-called knowledge about pregnancy in America that she spews throughout the rest of the book. Seems like nothing more than a lot of self-important opinion to me.

About the author

Naomi Wolf is the author of the best-selling The Beauty Myth, which helped to launch a new wave of feminism in the early 1990s and was named one of the most significant books of the twentieth century by The New York Times. She has since authored several other books, most recently Vagina: A New Biography. Wolf is co-founder of The Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, an organization devoted to training young women in ethical leadership for the 21st century. The institute teaches professional development in the arts and media, politics and law, business and entrepreneurship as well as ethical decision making. She lives in New York City with her family.