Draft:Apple: Sex, Drugs, Motherhood and the Recovery of the Feminine

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Apple: Sex, Drugs, Motherhood and the Recovery of the Feminine is a non-fiction, semi-

Controversially, it made the front page of the Australian national paper. The accompanying 3000-word excerpt opened with the words: "My baby was born blue and motionless. She didn’t even look real. 'Is it dead?' I asked, blurred by morphine. This was my first response to my only child. Beyond the apathy, nothing."[2]^[3]

Overview

After the autobiographical introduction, which deals with Gambotto-Burke's childhood and young adulthood, there are 22 chapters in the book divided into three sections: "High", "Born to the Undead", and "Return of the Queen".

"High" deals with

Gambotto-Burke opens the book with memories of her childhood on North Shore (Sydney) and the systemic sexism that penetrated every level of her existence. With this, she introduces the questions that unfold her argument, ending on her traumatic birth experience in a Sydney hospital.

Apple: Sex, Drugs, Motherhood and the Recovery of the Feminine took "years" to write", Gambotto-Burke told an interviewer. "Maybe three years of reading, years of experience, discussion and observation, and then the writing. When I began writing Apple, I thought I was embarking on a relatively straightforward work of feminism. Halfway through, I made a discovery that lead to a domino effect of realisations. At times, they were coming at me so quickly I could barely keep up. As a result, I had to junk the 40,000 or so words I’d written and begin again. I worked through the night, almost every night, for years. The experience of writing Apple was unlike anything I’ve ever known. By the end, I felt as if I was bleeding from the head."^[4]

Core theories

The London Economic wrote. "In the course of a three-year analysis into the impact of modern birthing practices, [Gambotto-Burke] has come to believe there is a connection between the use of obstetric drugs, oxytocin deficiency and the rising number of children with sociopathy – a mental disorder in which a person lacks affection, empathy and compassion for others. Her new book, Apple, meanwhile, has made international headlines for its controversial investigation into the possible connection between modern obstetric practices and a wide range of escalating health and social issues. Analysing, among other things, the potential impact of birth trauma on late celebrities such as singer

Gambotto-Burke believes that the breakdown in the maternal/child relationship is evidenced by "the increasingly obvious—and tragic—lessening of territorial maternal behaviour towards the infant."^[5]

Reception

The Daily Telegraph writer and critic Gwyneth Rees wrote, "Argued with intelligence, force and the fury of righteous indignation by lauded feminist thinker, author and critic Antonella Gambotto-Burke, the book explores how the manner in which we enter the world has a profound and lasting impact on our lives, and by extension upon society as a whole. As we come to learn, modern obstetric practices are deeply connected with an increased likelihood in later life of drug use, sexual fetishes, anxiety and mental illness, chronic and potentially life-threatening illnesses. They are also linked with the breakdown of relationships between men and women, and the erosion of the bond between mothers and children. This all comes to light through Apple’s central question: why is our culture governed by the principle of separation?"^[6]

British academic Rehan Qayoom, in his paper about the book, found that it shows that "the life-choices of mothers, pushed by a system of obstetric norms, are literally destroying life right from birth. The use of ‘dummies’ is shown to be closely linked to babies’ developmental problems in motor skills, breathing, speaking and swallowing whereas those who are breastfed, by and large, have superior speech and are more eloquent than (as breastfeeding helps the tongue develop) those who are bottle-fed formula; leading to language and communication problems leading, in their turn, to emotional and social problems, and develop all sorts of allergies and intolerances."^[7]

A number of other critics focused on the sensationalistic aspects of the book.

In Metro (British newspaper), Tom Sanders wrote, "Babies who are bottle-fed or suck dummies are more likely to develop rubber fetishism or a fixation on gimp suits later in life, a leading feminist has claimed ... She thinks this is because they draw comfort and gratification from the smell, taste and feel of the synthetic teats they sucked on as infants. Breast-fed babies, on the other hand, are less likely to be kinky in adulthood and more likely to bond with their mums, she said."^[8]

Journalist Joanne Tran, in "Rubber, latex, fetish and … dummies?", wrote: "A rockstar feminist has sought to go deeper into the link between sexual preferences and earliest infant experiences. The use of dummies, bottle teats and even feeding tubes can all resonate later in adulthood with sexual fetishes. To be specific, she argues babies exposed to textures like silicone may grow to have an attraction to sex dolls. This exposure would have to exist alongside factors like the absence of a loving maternal figure, or sustained abuse and neglect."^[9]

Reader's Digest described Apple: Sex, Drugs, Motherhood and the Recovery of the Feminine as "a major cultural event" and stated that it was "the first time" a connection had been made between "a wide range of personal and social issues — from drug addictions and mental illness to the breakdown of relationships — to the manner in which women are treated during pregnancy and labour."^[10]

References