Unbecoming Mothers: The Social Production of Maternal Absence

Description

Learn the “who,” “what,” and “why” of unbecoming a mother In a society where becoming a mother is naturalized, “unbecoming” a mother—the process of coming to live apart from biological children—is regarded as unnatural, improper, or even contemptible. Few mothers are more stigmatized than those who are perceived as having given up,... Read more

Learn the “who,” “what,” and “why” of unbecoming a mother

In a society where becoming a mother is naturalized, “unbecoming” a mother—the process of coming to live apart from biological children—is regarded as unnatural, improper, or even contemptible. Few mothers are more stigmatized than those who are perceived as having given up, surrendered, or abandoned their birth children. Unbecoming Mothers: The Social Production of Maternal Absence examines this phenomenon within the social and historical context of parenting in Canada, Australia, Britain, and the United States, with critical observations from social workers, policymakers, and historians. This unique book offers insights from the perspectives of children on the outside looking in and the lived experiences of women on the inside looking out.

Unbecoming Mothers: The Social Production of Maternal Absence explores how gender, race, class, and other social agents affect the ways women negotiate their lives apart from their children and how they attempt to recreate their identities and family structures. An interdisciplinary, international collection of academics, community workers, and mothers draws upon sources as diverse as archival records, a therapist’s interview, a dance script, and the class presentation of a student to offer refreshing insights on maternal absence that are innovative, accessible, and inspiring.

Unbecoming Mothers examines five assumptions about maternal absence and the families that emerge from that absence:

the focus on parenting as highly gendered caring work done by women
the idea that women share the same experience of unbecoming mothers and share the same circumstances and background
the perception of maternal absence as a recent phenomenon
the notion that women who want to manage their mother-work will make choices to overcome life’s obstacles
the Western concept of womanhood being achieved through motherhood and the unrealistic ideal of the “good mother”

Unbecoming Mothers: The Social Production of Maternal Absence is a rich, multidisciplinary resource for academics working in women’s studies, psychology, sociology, history, and any health-related fields, and for policymakers, social workers, and other community workers.
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About the Editor
Contributors
Foreword (Sharon Abbey)
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Framing the Discussion (Diana L. Gustafson)
PART I: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT
Chapter 2. The Social Construction of Maternal Absence (Diana L. Gustafson)
The Good Mother/Bad Mother Binary
The Binary of Becoming/Unbecoming Mothers
Defensive Acts of Resistance
Concluding Thoughts
Chapter 3. Abject Mothers: Women Separated from Their Babies Lost to Adoption (Patricia D. Farrar)
Adoption and Relinquishment
Reading Kristeva
Adoption As Abjection: The Unnameable, the Unspeakable
Reflecting on Abjection
Chapter 4. Clarifying Choice: Identity, Trauma, and Motherhood (Linda L. Anderson)
Clarifying Choice: Cynthia’s Story
Reflections on Identity, Motherhood, and Trauma
Chapter 5. Sandy’s Story: Re-Storying the Self (Lekkie Hopkins)
Sandy’s Seminar Presentation
Finding a Voice: Giving Life to Her Story, and a Story to Her Life
Reflections on the Re-Storying Process
Gentle Even With Garbage (Si Transken)
PART II: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
Chapter 6. “Forsaking Their Children”: Distance, Community, and Unbecoming Quaker Mothers, 1650-1700 (Susanna Calkins)
Early Modern Motherhood
The Paradox of Quaker Motherhood
The Paradox Resolved: Quaker Woman As Communal Mother
Conclusion
Chapter 7. Unnatural Mothers: Lone Mothers and the Practice of Child Rescue, 1901-1930 (Robert Adamoski)
Chapter 8. Missing Mothers in a Mother-Centered World: Adolescent Girls Growing Up in Kinship Care (Deborah Connolly Youngblood)
Missing Mothers
The Adolescent Code of Silence
Mothers Who Are Missed
Naturalizing Social Policy
Conclusion
Chapter 9. Looking Promising: Contradictions and Challenges for Young Mothers in Care (Marilyn Callahan, Deborah Rutman, Susan Strega, and Lena Dominelli)
The Research Methodology
The Findings: Looking Promising
Looking Promising: What Young Women Thought
Looking Promising: What Social Workers Thought
Looking Promising: A Beginning Theory
Maintaining the Cycle: Policy Observations
Contradictions and Obstacles in Breaking the Cycle
PART III: COMBINING SITUATED KNOWLEDGES OF MATERNAL ABSENCE
Chapter 10. Leaving to Grow / Inspiration to Grow / Leaving Inspiration (Gill Wright Miller)
Prologue
Leaving Inspiration: The Act of Being Contained by the Expectations of Mothering
Inspiration to Grow: The Act of Using Dance-Making As a Tool for Sharing
Leaving to Grow: The Act of Differentiating Mothering from Being a Mother
Epilogue
Chapter 11. Perspectives of Substance-Using Women and Human Service Practitioners: Reflections from the Margins (Deborah Rutman, Barbara Field, Suzanne Jackson, Audrey Lunquist, and Marilyn Callahan)
Substance Abuse, Pregnancy, and Mothering
Research Process
Findings
Discussion: Directions from Women and Human Service Practitioners
Index
Reference Notes Included

Author(s)

Biography

Diana Gustafson

Unbecoming Mothers The Social Production of Maternal Absence

Description

Table of Contents

Author(s)

Biography

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