Mother Culture: Constructions of Motherhood in Contemporary Society

Topics

• political debate for centuries. The framework of reproductive justice includes the right to have
• or not have a child, as well as the right to parent one’s child in a safe environment. In this
• emergent feminist scholarship on motherhood, with particular attention paid to the distinction
• Adrienne Rich), and the agential practice of mothering as defined by feminist scholars (Andrea
• constructions of the good vs. bad mother, conceptual and legal definitions of personhood
• childless/child-free women, nationalism, neoliberalism, technology and the future of mothering
• Particular attention is paid to intersectionality and the ways in which race, class, sexuality
• given our collective relationship to motherhood/mothering (as mothers, daughters, sons
• partners, humans) and seek to explore our own positionally with greater depth and analysis
• At the end of this course you
• Distinguish between theoretical conceptions of motherhood and mothering
• Demonstrate an understanding of the social construction of the good mother/bad mother
• dichotomy
• intersectionality on our understanding of motherhood/mothering
• Develop a nuanced understanding of legal conceptions and arguments relating to fetal