Kid Gloves

Someone should really do an anthropological survey of the pregnancy and childbirth folkways of the aspirational class in the US/Anglo world. I mean, I guess people have. Anyway, this book would be a very helpful primary document!

So, I honestly only wanted to give this 4 stars - that was how my heart and brain felt about it - but, ahem, my uterus took over and decided to get ~PoLiTiCaL~ and demanded 5. Because, as Knisley kinda insinuates in the book, this is a relatively rare story: a very realistic look at an averagely-hard pregnancy and childbirth. I didn't “relate” to this book; I had direct, first- or second-hand experience of basically every panel. Knisley makes a very good point of the baby boom (ho ho) of baby movies in the late 80s/early 90s (Baby Boom being a fave!) - and how now all us 1980s/1990s kids are grown up and having babies and WOW NO ONE MENTIONED TEARING, DIANE KEATON YOU WERE FULL OF LIES. Knisley's experience, on the other hand, is kind of “peak” this era, this socioeconomic class - she's in her 30s, her OB/GYN kinda just clocks her in and out (and misses that she gets frickin' preeclampsia, sheesh), there's the siren call of the natural birth movement (and I appreciated her digression into its dodgy history), there's the mountain of advice capitalism merch, and so on. Her story is truthfully told, with heart and clarity. And it's a story that we should honestly be shoving in the hands of teen girls and 20somethings!Now, a couple QUIBBLES, and why I wanted to dump a star: First quibble is large: in general, the graphic novel memoir sub-genre is just waaaaaay oversaturated, and - given that a lot of these successful cartoonists come from similar backgrounds and similar socio-economic statuses - it just feels kinda boring, repetitive, and indulgent. Like, I don't need another navel-gazing Millennial (BLAM, take that, generation!) lamenting their relatively okay life. This critique is sooooort of attenuated by the fact that, again, there just ain't that many realistic pregnancy memoirs, and so this is valuable in and of itself. But, I do wish graphic novels would pursue other forms of storytelling too... the medium has so much potential!Second quibble is small: there's a bit where Knisley explains how her husband came around to wanting kids (he was hesitant before). He's quoted as saying that he realized the difference between “making myself happy and becoming fulfilled”. Fair. Strong fair indeed. By definition/biological imperative, a lot of parenting - especially baby stuff - is about how your needs come last, and your kid's come first. And that can be a scary loss of freedom/control. But then, in the very next page, Knisley is gesturing towards the okay-ness (and increasing popularity) of staying child-free, and she notes the “stigma” still attached to it, and how a study found that child-free people are perceived as being “less fulfilled”. And I was like *double take wait, didn't we just say that that's what you believe? I was confused. That is a small quibble, I know.

* jk jk, she does not give birth to the baby in Baby Boom, but I digress