By Ani Liu

Power, labor, sex, reproduction, and money all conspire to reinterpret my biology through social conventions. And while these forces are always there, they quickly leapt to the foreground during my pregnancy. 

Pregnancy forces you to re-experience your body on scales both molecular and socio-political. Despite or perhaps because of its centrality to life, so much of the experience is a mystery. One morning I awoke with a line that had formed from my belly button to the top of my pubic bone. Another morning, I discovered a constellation of dark patches and acne in the mirror. Intense nausea followed me around the city. Even the smell of my spouse became unspeakably nauseating.