In this paper, I introduce and analyze Japanese early m odern comicbooks, or kibyōshi. Drawing on recent feminist and queer theoretical w ritings, I argue that Santō Kyōden’s 1804 w ork, Ten M onths in the W om b of An A uthor, pokes fun at Confucian norm s surrounding reproduction and childbirth. I contextualize m y argum ent against m anuals for w om en that espouse such Confucian view s that w ere produced and circulated in the early m odern period.