Price: $49.95
Page Count: 976
Publication Date: May 2011
ISBN: 978-0-9866671-1-4
Andrea O’Reilly offers us a compelling look at a nascent movement whose force cannot be denied. This invaluable and comprehensive collection conveys the excitement, ten- sions, and potential of motherhood as a rallying cry. Bring- ing together a variety of perspectives and voices in a rich mix, it explores the many facets of maternal activism and provides a much-needed resource for anyone who wants to understand mothers’ efforts to make the personal political.
—Pamela Stone, Hunter College and Graduate Center of the City University of New York and author of Opt- ing Out? Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home
“This rich anthology documents the modern mother’s movement in all of its diversity. It is must reading for anyone interested in the explosion of activism aimed at the empowerment of women as mothers. Mamazons, outlaw mothers, strategic essentialists, online pragmatists, lesbian theorists, and more than 80 organizations representing every class, creed and color of mother - they are all here. If you want a clear picture of 21st century matrocentric feminism, look no further - this is it.”
- Ann Crittenden, author of The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World is Still the Least Valued
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Maternal Activism as Matricentric Feminism: The History, Ideological Frameworks, Political Strategies and Activist Practices of the 21st Century Motherhood Movement
Andrea O’Reilly
Section I: Becoming a Mother: Pregnancy, Childbirth, Breastfeeding
1. Empowering Women to Become Mothers: Midwifery in Ontario, 1990-2010
Judith Mintz
2. Public Education and the Midwives Alliance of North America: Giving Birth to “Mothers Naturally”
Melissa Cheyney, Elizabeth Moore, and Geradine Simkins
3. Articulating a Rhetoric of Agency for Pregnancy Through Intersectionality: The National Advocates for Pregnant Women
Michelle Trim
4. Different Songs, Same Harmony: SisterSong’s Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
Jennifer Musial
5. Birth Trauma Canada: Advocating for the Rights of Childbearing Women
Penny Christensen
6. Maternity Coalition: Australia’s National Maternity Consumer Advocacy Organization
Lareen Newman, Kerreen Reiger, and Monica Campo
7. Caritas, donum vitae, pro familia, and Sozialdienst katholischer Frauen: Supporting Mothers and Sustaining the Next Generation of Germany
Sonja M. Allen
8. The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood: Confronting Maternal Mortality as the Health Scandal of Our Time
Lynn Comerford
9. Save The Mothers Programs
Jacqueline Ciccio Parsons
10. Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services (AIMS) Ireland: Supporting Women, Promoting Change
Christina Bermingham
11. Keeping Mum, Community Art Project: Joining the Dots … Mapping Maternal Identity in Ireland
Martina Hynan
12. A BOLD Theatre Action: The Birth on Labor Day Movement to Make Maternity Care Mother-Friendly
Kryn Freehling-Burton
13. The International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization: Working To Create Optimal Maternity Care Worldwide
Robbie Davis-Floyd, Debra Pascali-Bonaro, Mayri Sagady Leslie, Rae Davies, Hélène Vadeboncoeur, and Rodolfo Gómez Ponce de León
14. Surgery is a Natural Birth Plan for Many Women: The Organization electivecesarean.com
Pauline McDonagh Hull
15. La Leche League International
Cindy Cowan
16. Middle-Class Mothers as Activists for Change: The Australian Breastfeeding Association
Virginia Thorley
Section II: Maternal Identities
17. Project GirlMom: An Affirmation of Positive Maternal Identity
Sandy M. May
18. “When you are coming out of the gate placed way behind as a woman and a woman of color…
it’s a huge pile on top of you to work your way through”: The Latina Mami Collective, Austin, Texas
Cristina Herrera
19. Single Mothers by Choice: No Time to Wait for a Perfect Partner
Veronika Novoselova
20. Incarcerated Mothers, Mothers First and Foremost: Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Karen Shain
21. The Right to Mother – DAWN-RAFH Canada: 25 Years of Activism for Reproductive Control of Our Bodies
Jewelles Smith
22. Mocha Moms: Lifting as We Climb
R. Dianne Bartlow
23. Queering the Family Tree: LGBTQ Parenting Network, Sherbourne Health Centre
Rachel Epstein
Section III: Maternal Advocacy
24. The Mother Centers International Network
Monika Jaeckel
25. The Birth and Evolution of the National Association of Mothers’ Centers: My Radical Hope
Lorri Slepian, with Laurie Sylla and Rosanne Weston
26. Empowering First-Time Mothers: The Feminist Coping with Change Maternal Health Promotion Program
Fiona Joy Green
27. Honouring our Grandmothers’ Spirits: Warriors Against Violence Society
Donna Lester-Smith and Joyce Fossella
28. Our Family Coalition: Mothering on the Curve
Heaven Walker
29. Family and Home Network: Listening, Learning and Leading for Over 25 Years
Catherine H. Myers
30. Attachment Parenting International: Nurturing Generations of Mothers, Children and Families
Sally Dear-Healey
31. Choice Moms: Building Community, Resources and Services for the Choice Mom Community Worldwide
Christin Geall
32. Bad Mothers Club: The Online Safe Haven for Australian Mums. Politically Incorrect or Reality Parenting?
Amanda Cox
33. Feminism by Stealth in the Suburbs: The Feminist Mothers Discussion Group
Andrea Fox
34. Toronto Feminist Mothers: A Work in Progress
Tania Jivraj
Section IV: Maternal Activism
35. Mothers Are Women
Kristen Abatsis McHenry
36. MOTHERS Uniting and Organizing for Change: The Next Step in Building a Mothers’ Movement
Linda Lisi Juergens
37. Mothers & More: Fighting “Invisimomibility”: to Make Mothering Count
Jenna Vinson
38. Welfare Warriors: Fighting for the Lives of Mothers and Children
Pat Gowens
39. MomsRising: A Million-Member Organization Working to Ensure Family Economic Security and to End Discrimination Against Mothers
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner and Mary Olivella
40. Jennifer Schumaker’s 500 Mile Walk for Togetherness
Natalie Wilson
41. The LGBT Family Coalition of Quebec
Nancy Nicol
42. Changing the World One Mother at a Time: The International Mothers and Mothering Network
Melinda Vandenbeld Giles
43. Mother Outlaws: Building Communities of Empowered: Feminist Mothers in the Mother’hood
Linn Baran
44. The Mothers Movement Online
Rachel Sutz Pienta
Section V: Violence, Militarism, War and Peace
45. How to Mobilize One Million Mothers: The Million Mom March and the Power of the Social Network
Rachel Sutz Pienta
46. United Mothers Opposing Violence Everywhere: Moving Up, Moving Outward
Laura Pennington
47. Taking Back the Streets, Helping Victims Heal: “Mothers In Charge” in Philadelphia
Abigail L. Palko
48. Policing the Police in Every Mother’s Son: A Profile of Mother-Warriors Seeking Justice in New York City
Amber Fatima Riaz
49. No Body, No Crime? The Mothers of Acari and the Struggle for Justice and Non-Violence
Tatiana Moura and Rita Santos
50. Mothers Against Trafficking Humans
Glendene Grant
51. American Mothers Fighting the Vietnam War: Another Mother for Peace
Meghan Gibbons
52. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo
Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard
53. The Mothers of Laleh Park: The Mourning Mothers of Iran Demand an End to Violence
Susan Logsdon-Conradsen
54. The Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers in Russia: Anti-War and Human Rights Activists
Susan Logsdon-Conradsen
55. Gold Star Families Speak Out: Coalitions and Anti-War Maternal Activism
Jocelyn Fenton Stitt
56. Raising a Ruckus with CODEPINK: Women for Peace
Gayle Brandeis
57. Peace X Peace: Global Motherhood for the Twenty-first Century
Mary Liston Liepold
58. Cindy Sheehan
Natalie Wilson
Section VI: Social Change and Social Justice
59. Mothers Against Drunk Driving: How Two Mothers’ Personal Pain Birthed a Social Movement
Laura Dreuth Zeman
60. Mainstreet Moms: Organize or Bust
Lisa Federer
61 The Mother-Daughter Project
Renée Schultz
62. The Playground Revolution: Working and Stay-at-Home Parents Fight on the Same Side
Sarah Cote Hampson
63. Mothers Acting Up: Mobilizing Mothers to Act on Behalf of the World’s Children
Juliana Forbes and Beth Osnes
64. Moms on the Move: BC Families Supporting People with Special Needs
Andrea Doyle Hugmeyer
65. Shifting the Paradigm: International Feminists for a Gift Economy
Genevieve Vaughan
66. Feminist.com
Amy Richards
67. The Motherhood Project and Mothers for a Human Future: Motherworld Values and the Movement to Preserve Our Humanity
Enola G. Aird
68. Mothers of East Los Angeles: Trailblazers in Environmental Justice
R. Dianne Bartlow
Section VII: Writing, Researching, and Performing Motherhood
69. An Association, a Journal, and a Press of Our Own: The Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement, the Journal of the Motherhood Initiative, and Demeter Press
Andrea O’Reilly
70. Birthing and Re-Birthing Down Under: From ARM-A to AMIRCI
Marie Porter and Julie Kelso
71. Mapping Maternal Subjectivities, Identities and Ethics
Sigal Spigel and Lisa Baraitser
72. Supporting Feminist Scholarship and Activism: National Women’s Studies Association Feminist Mothering Caucus
Arlene Sgoutas
73. Matriarchies as Mother-Centered Societies
Heide Goettner-Abendroth
74. Moms Rock! with Mamapalooza
Lynn Kuechle and Joy Rose
75. Museum of Motherhood, The Cultural Family: Honoring Mothers in Perpetuity
Lynn Kuechle and Joy Rose
76. Hip Mama
Ariel Gore
77. Things No One Will Tell You: Literary Mama Writes About Motherhood Outside the Mainstream Media
Caroline M. Grant
78. Yo’Mama/Literature for Life
Jo Altilia
79. Literary Brainchild: Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers
Ann Douglas
80. Mothering: A Magazine, a Website, a Cultural Shift
Peggy O’Mara
81. You Say You Want a Revolution—The Film
Lynn Kuechle and Joy Rose
Organizations
Contributor Notes
