Renee Ann Cramer, associate professor and chair of law, politics, and society at Drake, will discuss her book, Pregnant with the Stars, on Wednesday, April 20, at 7 p.m. in the Cowles Library Reading Room. The conversation and a reception following are free and open to the public.

“Check out that baby bump!” Online and print magazines, television shows, and personal blogs are awash with gossip and speculation about pregnant celebrities. What drives our cultural obsession with celebrity baby bumps? Pregnant with the Stars examines the American fascination with, and judgment of, celebrity pregnancy and exposes how our seemingly innocent interest in “baby bumps” actually reinforces troubling standards about femininity, race, and class, while increasing the surveillance and regulation of all women in our society.

This author event is sponsored by Cowles Library.

—Leslie Noble, Assistant to the Dean and Manager, Library Support Operations