Babies Made Us Modern

Download or read book Babies Made Us Modern written by Janet Golden and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-19 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Placing babies' lives at the center of her narrative, historian Janet Golden analyzes the dramatic transformations in the lives of American babies during the twentieth century. She examines how babies shaped American society and culture and led their families into the modern world to become more accepting of scientific medicine, active consumers, open to new theories of human psychological development, and welcoming of government advice and programs. Importantly Golden also connects the reduction in infant mortality to the increasing privatization of American lives. She also examines the influence of cultural traditions and religious practices upon the diversity of infant lives, exploring the ways class, race, region, gender, and community shaped life in the nursery and household.