Feminist historians have embraced the concept of reproductive labor, but too many of us have shied away from speaking about biological reproduction lest we fall into gender essentialism. We talk about social reproduction: the socialization and care of children and dependent people, as well as the quotidian activities of life necessary to replenish labor power. This term includes household and sex/affective production, both paid and unpaid. Journalist and activist Jenny Brown treads where others have not. Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight over Women’s Work offers a novel lens into the “work and family” dilemma facing wage-earning women. Women cope with the difficulty of earning income and tending to households by having fewer children. This solution has led those in power to further “deprive us of reproductive control” (11). Brown marshals historical examples for a presentist agenda: to empower women to control the bearing and rearing of children, end their...

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