Susan E. Bell: DES Daughters

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#CC0000" alink="#CC0000"><center><hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade>How a DES catastrophe created a feminist health movement<hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade><p><a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/ChicagoBook.aspx?ISBN=9781592139187&&PRESS=temple" target="_top">Buy this book!</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">View Cart</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">Check Out</a></p><p><img src="1518_reg.gif" height=200 border=1 vspace=4></p></center><h1>DES Daughters</h1> <H2>Embodied Knowledge and the Transformation of Women's Health Politics</H2> <h3>Susan E. Bell</h3> <P>cloth 1-59213-918-3 $74.50, Aug 09, <FONT COLOR=#990033>Available</FONT> <br>paper 1-59213-919-1 $24.95, Aug 09, <FONT COLOR=#990033>Available</FONT> <br>Electronic Book 978-1-59213-920-0 $74.50 <FONT COLOR=#990033>Available</FONT> <BR> 232 pp 6x9 4 halftones </P><BLOCKQUOTE><I>"In this wise and well-researched book, Susan Bell uses a narrative analytic strategy to both present and make sense of the ‘embodied social movement’ that arose among ‘DES Daughters’—women (and later some men) whose mothers had been given a ‘wonder drug’ to prevent miscarriage in the 1940s, 1950, and 1960s that only from the 1970s forward was understood to produce devastating reproductive-tract results. Bell shows us how their experiences changed, as did the women’s movement, health care activism, and scientific and biomedical practices. The result enables us to understand not only what women have to say about taking action to preserve and protect their own lives and the lives of others but also how both U.S. health movements and those who want to understand them evolve over time</I>"<BR><B>&#151Rayna Rapp</B>, Professor of Anthropology, New York University, and author of <i>Testing Women, Testing the Fetus: The Social Impact of Amniocentesis in America</i></I></BLOCKQUOTE> <p>From the 1940s to the 1970s, millions of women were exposed prenatally to the synthetic estrogen DES, a "wonder drug" intended to prevent miscarriages. However, DES actually had damaging consequences for the women born from DES mothers. The "DES daughters" as they are known, were found to have a rare form of vaginal cancer or were infertile. They were also at risk for miscarriages, stillbirths, and ectopic pregnancies. </p><p> In <i>DES Daughters</i>, Susan Bell recounts the experiences of this generation of "victims." In moving, heartfelt narratives, she presents the voices of those women who developed cancer, those who were cancer-free but have concerns about becoming pregnant, and those who suffered other medical and/or reproductive difficulties. </p><p> Bell examines the hierarchy of knowledge and power of scientists, doctors, and daughters, tracing the emergence of a feminist health movement. The "embodied knowledge" of these DES daughters prompted them to become advocates and form a social movement that challenged reproductive medical knowledge specifically, but also the politics of women’s health in general. Bell’s important book chronicles the history and future of these grassroots activists born out of illness, suffering, and uncertainty. </p> <BR> <h2>Excerpt</h2><P>Excerpt available at <a href="http://www.temple.edu/tempress">www.temple.edu/tempress</a></p> <BR> <h2>Reviews</h2> <P><i>"</i>DES Daughters<I> is a pleasure to read. In addition to Bell’s sensitivity and intelligence, she brings the reader close to the people she writes about&#151we get to know the women in the book and their stories come across very lively and sympathetically."</I> <BR><B>&#151Phil Brown</B>, Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies, Brown University</P> <BR> <P><p>  <font color="#3152A5">Also available in e-book</font></p></P><BR> <br> <h2>Contents</h2><P> Acknowledgments <br>Introduction: Connecting Lives, Texts, and Social Change <br>1. A History of DES <br>2. Narratives and Lives: The Politics of Knowing for DES Daughters <br>3. Becoming a Mother after DES <br>4. Remapping DES Bodies <br>5. Power, Knowledge, and DES <br>6. Healthy Baby Girls <br>Conclusion: Performing DES , Embodying a Health Movement <br>Notes <br>References <br>Index </P><BR> <H2>About the Author(s)</H2> <table><tr><td valign="top"><img src="/tempress/authors/2000_au1.gif" height="90" width="75"></td><td width="100%" valign="middle"><p><b>Susan E. Bell</b> is the A. Myrick Freeman Professor of Social Sciences at Bowdoin College.</P></td></tr></table> <BR><H2>Subject Categories</H2> <p><A HREF="/tempress/women.html" TARGET="_top">Women's Studies</a> <BR><A HREF="/tempress/health.html" TARGET="_top">Health and Health Policy</a> <BR><A HREF="/tempress/sociology.html" TARGET="_top">Sociology</a> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/ChicagoBook.aspx?ISBN=9781592139187&&PRESS=temple" target="_top">Buy this book!</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">View Cart</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">Check Out</a></p><p><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="copyright.html" onMouseOver="window.status='Web Copyright Policy';return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''" title="Web Copyright Policy">©</a> 2009 <a href="http://www.temple.edu" target="new" onMouseOver="window.status='Link to Temple University home page';return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''" title="Link to Temple University home page">Temple University</a>. 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