I discovered that the dominant perspective regarding the preferable location of birth was in favor of hospital birth. O and B said that hospital birth was better because it is governed by professionals, and if something goes wrong the mother and baby can be immediately helped. L had no idea what the pros and cons were one way or the other. Interviewees either were uneducated about the process, or liked the ease of hospital births. I wonder if this perspective is accurate, an effect of watching romanticized television, or an effect of home births not being commercialized, thereby appearing primitive.
When questioned about the reasons for having children, L said "I absolutely want to have children. I think people want to have children for the same reason birth is called 'the miracle of life.' It's a beautiful thing to have a completely new person born into the world. It's a sort of adventure to see how they are different or similar to the parents and relatives and how they fit into the family. And...It can greatly strengthen a relationship." O had very specific child-rearing desires: "I do want to have children..2 girls and 1 boy. People want to have children because it gives them a sense of joy and happiness having someone who is a part of them to love on and receive his or her love back. Also, this creates a family, a generation. Children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Also, having a family builds a strong bond and sense of security and joy." B said that people have children as a means to carry on their legacy. In light of these statements, the dominant perspective of bearing children is that new borns serve the purpose of strengthening family relationships, bringing joy and love into the parents' lives, and immortalizing the parents. I think my generation's ideas about birth are informed by their own families. The interviewees who mentioned love or bonds or joy in regard to birth had great relationships with their families, and those that suffered from rocky relationships with or between their parents did not mention it as much. Additionally, each interviewee's family chose to have a hospital birth, which probably informed the overall preference for hospital births.
The first reactions of the interviewees when they heard the words "birth" or "pregnancy" were "Pain, responsibility and new life", "How tough it (birth) was (for my mom)" and "THAT is going to hurt a lot!" I believe these reactions are informed by their parents as well, because the interviewees were told stories of their painful births, and had witnessed their mothers during pregnancy. Media also has an influence on these perspectives, because movies depict childbirth as a heart-wrenching, emotional, torturous, yet wonderful experience filled with responsibility.
There was no controversy between the opinions of the O, L and B. They were in agreement over the difficulty and wonder of birth, the desire to have children, and the preferable location of birth. This is not surprising to me, because teenagers that I know seldom discuss birth or pregnancy. Usually common topics of discussion are controversial in some way, and discussing birth gets boring when everyone agrees on its whys, hows, and whats.
The following is a link to an interview with B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQZVxW_hseI
Nice interview, Casey. I was intrigued by the idea of legacy building, which seemed to come up as a primary reason to have kids. In the context of modern NYC (or the First World in general), I admit it seems a bit self-centered--the child seen as a vehicle for someone else's perceived immortality. (It made me think of your earlier posts about the fear of death, and the lengths we go to in order to avoid it.)
ReplyDeletePart of that, I think, is that the children aren't required (as they once were, and still are in poorer communities) to help the family in labor and increased income. They are not contributing in a tangible sense, until much later in life. Of course, the opposite argument is that child-rearing for the sake of asset gain is as much (or more) rooted in self-interest as legacy-building...