Book Description"Birthing Fathers is a groundbreaking anthropological and sociological analysis of American fatherhood and mens role in birthing "Robbie Davis-Floyd, author of Birth as an American Rite of Passage "Treating birth as ritual, Reed makes clever use of his anthropological expertise, qualitative data, озйгн and personal experience to bring to life the frustrations and joys men often encounter as they navigate the medical model of birthing "William Marsiglio, author Sex, Men, and Babies: Stories of Awareness and Responsibility In the past two decades, men have gone from being excluded from the delivery room to being admitted, then invited, and, finally, expected to participate actively in the birth of their children No longer mere observers, fathers attend baby showers, go to birthing classes, and share in the intimate, everyday details of their partners pregnancies In this unique study, Richard Reed draws on the feminist critique of professionalized medical birthing to argue that the clinical nature of medical intervention distances fathers from child delivery He explores mens roles in childbirth and the ways in which birth transforms a mans identity and his relations with his partner, his new baby, and society In other societies, birth is recognized as an important rite of passage for fathers Yet, in American culture, despite the fact that fathers are admitted into delivery rooms, little attention is given to their transition to fatherhood The bookconcludes with an exploration of what mens roles in childbirth tell us about gender and American society Reed suggests that it is no coincidence that mens participation in the birthing process developed in parallel to changing definitions offatherhood more broadly Over the past twenty years, it has become expected that fathers, in addition to being strong and dependable, will be empathetic and nurturing Well-researched, candidly written, and enriched with personal accounts of over fifty men from all parts of the world, this book is as much about the birth of fathers as it is about fathers in birth.  Москва, 19532005 г 259 стр ISBN 0813535174.