Global Perspectives on Motherhood, Mothering and Masculinities





Price: $39.95

Page Count: 280

Publication Date: July 2021

ISBN: 978-1-77258-287-1

The two phenomena highlighted in this edited volume ‘motherhood/mothering and masculinities’ are each recent areas of development in critical Feminist and Men’s Studies. In contributing to these areas of gender studies, this book draws attention to the fact that much can also be gained when we explore relationships between them, an idea that may not readily come to mind. While femininities and masculinities are co-constructed, motherhood and mothering bring additional perspectives to the study of femininity that affect the construction of masculinity in complex ways. The 12 chapters in this volume allow readers to ponder some of these complexities and may suggest other issues that require investigation. Spanning many continents, the essays have both a global and historical reach emphasising cultural differences and historical changes. Of import is the idea that mothers have agency and are active in constructions affecting their lives. They are able to bring motherhood out of the shadows as they strive to build, re-evaluate or alter their roles within families and communities. These have an impact on developments in masculinities. The book is divided into three parts and the chapters investigate a wide range of issues including cultural constructs, gender in parent/child, relationships, non-binary developments, the impact of war on mothering, decolonisation struggles, and much more.

"This book highlights diverse perspectives on motherhood, mothering, and masculinities; it fills a gap in the literature as it takes up different masculinities and their relationships to mothers and motherhood. The essays in this volume provide a fascinating look into the many ways that masculinities and motherhood intersect in different social, political, and national contexts."

- Lisa M. Anderson, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

PART 1 CULTURAL NARRATIVES

1

Motherhood and the Construction of a Regional Hegemonic Masculinity
in Southwestern Nigeria
Tolá Olú Pearce

2
Exploring Perspectives on Black Motherhood, Parenting, and Child Rearing through Black Social Media Users’ Meme Circulation
Kierra Otis

3
Feminist Critique of the Representation of Motherhood and
Masculinity in Bollywood Cinema: Implications of Gender Violence
in the Indian Diaspora
Meghna Bhat

4
How the Principles of Matristic Societies Can Provide More Flexibility on Mothering, Motherhood, and Masculinities
Katharine I. Ransom

PART 11 ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

5
Healing Foundational Wounds in Sons and Mothers: From Womb Envy to Asymmetrical Generativity
Cheryl Lynch-Lawler

6
Achieving Womanhood through Motherhood?
A Phenomenology of the Experience of Mothering for the Hijras in India
Stuti Das

7
Guerrilla Mothering: On Masculinities and Femininities
Victoria Team

8
Empowered Through Mothering:
Armenian Women’s Agency in Trauma and War in Karabakh
Sevan Beukian

PART 111 POSTCOLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS

9
Kokum-Gikendaasowin: Grandmother Knowledge,
Epistemology and (Re)Generation of Anishinaabeg Malehoods
Renée E. Mzinegiizhigoo-Kwe Bédard

10
Masculinity and Motherhood: Engendering Indian Nationalism
Zairunisha

11
“A Husband is the Firstborn Child”: Networks, Masculinities and Motherhood in Tanzania.
Rasel Madaha

12
‘More than a Woman’: Exploring Motherhood and Masculinities in Food
and Nutrition Security in Northern Vietnam
Andrea Moraes

About the Contributors

Tola Olu Pearce (PhD. Brown University) is a sociologist and Professor Emerita at the University of Missouri, Columbia, USA. She also taught sociology at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria for 15 years. Research, teaching and publication interests are: women and children’s health in Africa, globalisation, social inequalities and Human Rights.

Andrea Moraes (PhD. University of Missouri, Columbia) is a Brazilian/Canadian scholar in rural sociology. She is interested in indigenous populations, food security and rural development. Presently, she is a Lecturer at the School of Nutrition and the Chang School of Continuing Studies at Ryerson University Toronto in Canada.