Review of Amanda Hess’s Second life: Having a child in the digital age (2025)

Authors

  • Madeline Burghardt

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15353/cjds.v14i4.1303

Abstract

Amanda Hess, who writes about pop culture and the internet for the New York Times, begins Second life: Having a child in the digital age with the statement, “this is an account of a relationship with technology” (p. 1). Yet Hess signals early on that the text will dig much deeper than a description of how she engages with tech’s latest offerings. Indeed, she reflects on how technology has become embedded in our most intimate personal spaces--in this case, people’s menstrual, prenatal, and postnatal lives—and ultimately offers insight into the ways in which technology contributes to transhistorical anxieties about disability and the cultural preoccupation with identifying and eliminating it.

Author Biography

Madeline Burghardt

Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Manitoba

Published

2025-12-16

How to Cite

Burghardt, M. (2025). Review of Amanda Hess’s Second life: Having a child in the digital age (2025). Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, 14(4), 264–270. https://doi.org/10.15353/cjds.v14i4.1303

Issue

Section

Reviews