(M)otherhood: On the choices of being a woman

(Hardback, Main)

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In a world where women have more choices than ever, society nevertheless continues to exert the stigma and pressures of less enlightened times when it comes to childbirth, defining women by whether they embrace or reject motherhood, and whether they can have children or not.

Dr Pragya Agarwal uses her own varied experiences and choices around motherhood to examine the broader societal and scientific factors that drive how we think and talk about this issue - including education, economic status, feminism, race and more.

Extremely open in its honesty and meticulously researched, (M)otherhood makes a powerful argument for the need to tackle society's obsession with women's bodies and fertility - and urgently.

'Brilliant, brave, beautiful ... such an inspiring book' - Elif Shafak

'Intimate and insightful, Pragya Agarwal expands the meaning of the word motherhood in this brilliant book. This is urgent, essential reading for everyone.' - Avni Doshi

Reviews

'(M)otherhood is a wide ranging, searingly honest, and timely intervention into the framing of a fundamental and fraught choice, as well as an impassioned defence of ambivalence as part of the human condition.' - Olivia Sudjic

'A book about the disparate forces of duty, stereotypes, pressure, double standards and expectations forced upon women, Agarwal cuts through all of it to examine the multiplicity and complexity of motherhood in all its myriad forms. A moving, urgent and necessary read, ultimately, it is a book about love.' - Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project & author of Men Who Hate Women

'Courageous, tender, painfully resonant and beautifully written - this is such a wise and generous exploration of womanhood and identity, and deserves to be read as widely as possible.' - Daisy Buchanan

'This exceptional book combines the clarity and rigour of an academic text with the compelling and beautiful storytelling of a novel - an important, generous and profoundly wise consideration of motherhood, including the choice not to be a mother.' - Heidi James, author of The Sound Mirror

'Thought-provoking and important. As always Agarwal delves into her self, as well as rigorous research, to open our minds' - Sara Pascoe

'Absolutely sensational. Revelatory and of its time, challenging myths and ingrained perceptions. I cannot put it down. Everyone should read this.' - Michael Cashman CBE, co-founder of Stonewall

'(M)otherhood is a valuable step towards a literature that acknowledges the breadth and variety of the parenting experience and its cultural meanings. It is touchingly personal and brave.' - Angela Saini, author of Superior: The Return of Race Science

'The book on motherhood we have all been waiting for. Pragya has written an essential and deeply moving memoir whose time has come.' - Sonia Faleiro, author of The Good Girls

'I've never really read anything like it. It is the first book that makes me feel included for my choice not to pursue having children. And another part of me that was concerned about what we hand on to the next generation is a little bit more at rest knowing this book is written. A work of breath-taking generosity.' - Helen Bagnall, Salon London

Author Bio

Dr Pragya Agarwal is a behavioural and data scientist. After her PhD from the University of Nottingham, she was a senior academic in US and UK universities for over twelve years and held the prestigious Leverhulme Fellowship. As well as numerous research papers, she is the author of Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias and Wish We Knew What to Say: Talking with Children about Race. A passionate campaigner for racial and gender equality, Pragya is a two-time TEDx speaker, a TEDx Women organiser and the founder of a research think-tank 'The 50 Percent Project'. As a freelance journalist, she writes regularly for the Guardian, Prospect, Forbes, Huffington Post, BBC Science Focus, Scientific American and New Scientist amongst others. In 2018, Pragya was the winner of the Diverse Wisdom Writing award from Hay House Publishing and was named as one of the 100 influential women in social enterprise in the UK, and one of 50 people creating change in the UK-India corridor.

@DrPragyaAgarwal | drpragyaagarwal.com