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Born to be Sold: Martha Rosler Reads the Strange Case of Baby $/M

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Synopsis

Born to be Sold is Paper Tiger Television and Rosler's acerbic and witty interpretation of the notorious "Baby M" case, in which a natural — "surrogate" — mother and father of a baby fought each other for custody of the child. Rosler assumes various roles of the participants in the controversy, from the baby to the sperm, from the lawyer to the judge, as well as the two women in the case. Reconstructing the story from its trial by media and the court transcripts, Rosler views "surrogate" mother Mary Beth Whitehead's actions as an attempt to defy the identity assigned by her class and gender, and sees the verdict favoring the Sterns as an endorsement of the father's phallic right, his jurisprudential entitlement. Her analysis demonstrates how political, class and ideological systems are played out on the body of the woman.

ComedyDrama
Short Film

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What is Born to be Sold: Martha Rosler Reads the Strange Case of Baby $/M (1988) about?

Born to be Sold is Paper Tiger Television and Rosler's acerbic and witty interpretation of the notorious "Baby M" case, in which a natural — "surrogate" — mother and father of a baby fought each other for custody of the child. Rosler assumes various roles of the participants in the controversy, from the baby to the sperm, from the lawyer to the judge, as well as the two women in the case.…

Who stars in Born to be Sold: Martha Rosler Reads the Strange Case of Baby $/M?

Born to be Sold: Martha Rosler Reads the Strange Case of Baby $/M stars Martha Rosler. The film was directed by Martha Rosler.

How long is Born to be Sold: Martha Rosler Reads the Strange Case of Baby $/M?

Born to be Sold: Martha Rosler Reads the Strange Case of Baby $/M has a runtime of 35 min and premiered in 1988.

Where can I watch Born to be Sold: Martha Rosler Reads the Strange Case of Baby $/M?

Streaming availability for Born to be Sold: Martha Rosler Reads the Strange Case of Baby $/M changes by country and service. TasteRay tracks where it is available across Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Max, Apple TV+ and 50+ other platforms — the current options for your country are shown on this page.