Modern Motherhood and Women’s Dual Identities

Download Modern Motherhood and Women’s Dual Identities PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317195450
Total Pages : 334 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (171 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Modern Motherhood and Women’s Dual Identities by : Petra Bueskens

Download or read book Modern Motherhood and Women’s Dual Identities written by Petra Bueskens and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-05-28 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do women in contemporary western societies experience contradiction between their autonomous and maternal selves? What are the origins of this contradiction and the associated ‘double shift’ that result in widespread calls to either ‘lean in’ or ‘opt out’? How are some mothers subverting these contradictions and finding meaningful ways of reconciling their autonomous and maternal selves? In Modern Motherhood and Women’s Dual Identities, Petra Bueskens argues that western modernisation consigned women to the home and released them from it in historically unprecedented, yet interconnected, ways. Her ground-breaking formulation is that western women are free as ‘individuals’ and constrained as mothers, with the twist that it is the former that produces the latter. Bueskens’ theoretical contribution consists of the identification and analysis of modern women’s duality, drawing on political philosophy, feminist theory and sociology tracking the changing nature of discourses of women, freedom and motherhood across three centuries. While the current literature points to the pervasiveness of contradiction and double-shifts for mothers, very little attention has been paid to how (some) women are subverting contradiction and ‘rewriting the sexual contract’. Bridging this gap, Bueskens’ interviews ten ‘revolving mothers’ to reveal how periodic absence, exceeding the standard work-day, disrupts the default position assigned to mothers in the home, and in turn disrupts the gendered dynamics of household work. A provocative and original work, Modern Motherhood and Women’s Dual Identities will appeal to graduate students and researchers interested in fields such as Women and Gender Studies, Sociology of Motherhood and Social and Political Theory.

The Conflict

Download The Conflict PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Metropolitan Books
ISBN 13 : 1429996919
Total Pages : 223 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (299 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Conflict by : Elisabeth Badinter

Download or read book The Conflict written by Elisabeth Badinter and published by Metropolitan Books. This book was released on 2012-04-24 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the pathbreaking tradition of Backlash and The Time Bind, The Conflict, a #1 European bestseller, identifies a surprising setback to women's freedom: progressive modern motherhood Elisabeth Badinter has for decades been in the vanguard of the European fight for women's equality. Now, in an explosive new book, she points her finger at a most unlikely force undermining the status of women: liberal motherhood, in thrall to all that is "natural." Attachment parenting, co-sleeping, baby-wearing, and especially breast-feeding—these hallmarks of contemporary motherhood have succeeded in tethering women to the home and family to an extent not seen since the 1950s. Badinter argues that the taboos now surrounding epidurals, formula, disposable diapers, cribs—and anything that distracts a mother's attention from her offspring—have turned childrearing into a singularly regressive force. In sharp, engaging prose, Badinter names a reactionary shift that is intensely felt but has not been clearly articulated until now, a shift that America has pioneered. She reserves special ire for the orthodoxy of the La Leche League—an offshoot of conservative Evangelicalism—showing how on-demand breastfeeding, with all its limitations, curtails women's choices. Moreover, the pressure to provide children with 24/7 availability and empathy has produced a generation of overwhelmed and guilt-laden mothers—one cause of the West's alarming decline in birthrate. A bestseller in Europe, The Conflict is a scathing indictment of a stealthy zealotry that cheats women of their full potential.

Twenty-first Century Motherhood

Download Twenty-first Century Motherhood PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231520476
Total Pages : 409 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Twenty-first Century Motherhood by : Andrea O'Reilly

Download or read book Twenty-first Century Motherhood written by Andrea O'Reilly and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2010-09-23 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pioneer of modern motherhood studies, Andrea O'Reilly explores motherhood's current representation and practice, considering developments that were unimaginable decades ago: the Internet, interracial surrogacy, raising transchildren, male mothering, intensive mothering, queer parenting, the applications of new biotechnologies, and mothering in the post-9/11 era. Her work pulls together a range of disciplines and themes in motherhood studies. She confronts the effects of globalization, HIV/AIDS, welfare reform, politicians as mothers, third wave feminism, and the evolving motherhood movement, and she incorporates Chicana, African-American, Canadian, Muslim, queer, low-income, trans, and lesbian perspectives.

Women's Identities at War

Download Women's Identities at War PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : UNC Press Books
ISBN 13 : 1469620812
Total Pages : 357 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (696 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Women's Identities at War by : Susan R. Grayzel

Download or read book Women's Identities at War written by Susan R. Grayzel and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2014-03-19 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are few moments in history when the division between the sexes seems as "natural" as during wartime: men go off to the "war front," while women stay behind on the "home front." But the very notion of the home front was an invention of the First World War, when, for the first time, "home" and "domestic" became adjectives that modified the military term "front." Such an innovation acknowledged the significant and presumably new contributions of civilians, especially women, to the war effort. Yet, as Susan Grayzel argues, throughout the war, traditional notions of masculinity and femininity survived, primarily through the maintenance of--and indeed reemphasis on--soldiering and mothering as the core of gender and national identities. Drawing on sources that range from popular fiction and war memorials to newspapers and legislative debates, Grayzel analyzes the effects of World War I on ideas about civic participation, national service, morality, sexuality, and identity in wartime Britain and France. Despite the appearance of enormous challenges to gender roles due to the upheavals of war, the forces of stability prevailed, she says, demonstrating the Western European gender system's remarkable resilience.

Reconceiving Women

Download Reconceiving Women PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Guilford Press
ISBN 13 : 9780898620160
Total Pages : 195 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (21 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Reconceiving Women by : Mardy S. Ireland

Download or read book Reconceiving Women written by Mardy S. Ireland and published by Guilford Press. This book was released on 1993-06-01 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to recent surveys, approximately 40% of American women between the ages of 18 and 44 do not have children. Yet these women are virtually missing from accounts of women's lives. In this important new work, Mardy Ireland defines a place for women outside the parameters of motherhood and gives voice to the significant number of women who are not mothers. She draws extensively from interviews with over 100 childless women from various ethnic and educational backgrounds, demonstrating the myriad ways they came to view themselves as complete adults without recourse to the traditional defining criteria of motherhood. Her work offers all women--mothers and nonmothers alike--a vision of self-defined adulthood and a recognition that every woman is the subject of her own life. Challenging the assumption of deprivation or deviance that is traditionally applied to childless women in psychological theory and popular culture, Dr. Ireland reframes childlessness as a concept and lays a groundwork for an expanded view of women's identity and psychic development. Using contemporary psychoanalytic theory, she reexamines female identity development and presents a positive interpretation of women who--for whatever reason--are not mothers. To contrast and compare the experiences of her interview subjects, she places them within the changing psychosocial context of the last few decades and categorizes them according to their reasons for childlessness. Included are: 'traditional' women, who are childless by reasons of infertility or health complications; 'transitional' women, who are not mothers because of delaying circumstances; and 'transformative' women, who have actively chosen not to bear children in order to develop lives beyond the field of motherhood. The legend of Lilith, a creation story of the first woman, described in the last chapter, places both female desire and female power in a longstanding historical and mythic context. Animated by excerpts, quotes, and stories from the many interviews, RECONCEIVING WOMEN: SEPARATING MOTHERHOOD FROM FEMALE IDENTITY is illuminating for general readers and professionals alike. It provides valuable insights for anyone interested in women's studies and the psychology of women, and serves as an excellent textbook for courses in these fields.

Australian Mothering

Download Australian Mothering PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030202674
Total Pages : 501 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (32 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Australian Mothering by : Carla Pascoe Leahy

Download or read book Australian Mothering written by Carla Pascoe Leahy and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-01-28 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection defines the field of maternal studies in Australia for the first time. Leading motherhood researchers explore how mothering has evolved across Australian history as well as the joys and challenges of being a mother today. The contributors cover pregnancy, birth, relationships, childcare, domestic violence, time use, work, welfare, policy and psychology, from a diverse range of maternal perspectives. Utilising a matricentric feminist framework, Australian Mothering foregrounds the experiences, emotions and perspectives of mothers to better understand how Australian motherhood has developed historically and contemporaneously. Drawing upon their combined sociological and historical expertise, Bueskens and Pascoe Leahy have carefully curated a collection that presents compelling research on past and present perspectives on maternity in Australia, which will be relevant to researchers, advocates and policy makers interested in the changing role of mothers in Australian society.

Becoming a mother

Download Becoming a mother PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Manchester University Press
ISBN 13 : 1526161192
Total Pages : 305 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (261 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Becoming a mother by : Carla Pascoe Leahy

Download or read book Becoming a mother written by Carla Pascoe Leahy and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2023-04-04 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Becoming a mother charts the diverse and complex history of Australian mothering for the first time, exposing the ways it has been both connected to and distinct from parallel developments in other industrialised societies. In many respects, the historical context in which Australian women come to motherhood has changed dramatically since 1945. And yet examination of the memories of multiple maternal generations reveals surprising continuities in the emotions and experiences of first-time motherhood. Drawing upon interdisciplinary insights from anthropology, history, psychology and sociology, Carla Pascoe Leahy unpacks this multifaceted rite of passage through more than 60 oral history interviews, demonstrating how maternal memories continue to influence motherhood today. Despite radical shifts in understandings of gender, care and subjectivity, becoming a mother remains one of the most personally and culturally significant moments in a woman’s life.

Maternal Regret: Resistances, Renunciations, and Reflections

Download Maternal Regret: Resistances, Renunciations, and Reflections PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Demeter Press
ISBN 13 : 1772583979
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (725 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Maternal Regret: Resistances, Renunciations, and Reflections by : Andrea O'Reilly

Download or read book Maternal Regret: Resistances, Renunciations, and Reflections written by Andrea O'Reilly and published by Demeter Press. This book was released on 2022-06-08 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection considers how maternal regret, as it is conveyed in remorse, resentment, dissatisfaction, and disappointment, troubles the assumptions and mandates of normative motherhood and how it is explored and critiqued in creative non-fiction, film, literature, and social media. Maternal regret is also examined in relation to the estrangement of mother and child and the remorse and grief felt by both mothers and children caused by the abandonment of mother or child. Finally, the collection explores how regret opens the space for maternal erudition, enlightenment, and evolution; and makes possible maternal empowerment. The book is organized by way of these three sections: the first “Resistances” examines how maternal regret as conveyed in remorse, disillusionment, and resentment counters and corrects normative motherhood, the second, “Renunciations” looks at how regret is experienced in mother-child abandonment, and the third, “Reflections” explores how regret may be an opportunity for maternal knowledge and power. Overall, the collection serves to debunk and destroy the final taboo of normative motherhood that of maternal regret.. Mothers voicing regret, as journalist Kingston writes, “signals a large groundswell of maternal reckoning, [one that] has been compared to the #MeToo campaign.”

Nancy Chodorow and The Reproduction of Mothering

Download Nancy Chodorow and The Reproduction of Mothering PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030555909
Total Pages : 363 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (35 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Nancy Chodorow and The Reproduction of Mothering by : Petra Bueskens

Download or read book Nancy Chodorow and The Reproduction of Mothering written by Petra Bueskens and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-30 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes Nancy Chodorow’s canonical book The Reproduction of Mothering, bringing together an original essay from Nancy Chodorow and a host of outstanding international scholars—including Rosemary Balsam, Adrienne Harris, Elizabeth Abel, Madelon Sprengnether, Ilene Philipson, Meg Jay, Daphne de Marneffe, Alison Stone and Petra Bueskens—in a mix of memoir, festschrift, reflection, critical analysis and new directions in Chodorowian scholarship. In the 40 years since its publication, The Reproduction of Mothering has had a profound impact on scholarship across many disciplines including sociology, psychoanalysis, psychology, ethics, literary criticism and women’s and gender studies. Organized as a “reproduction of mothering scholarship”, this volume adopts a generationally differentiated structure weaving personal, political and scholarly essays. This book will be of interest to scholars across the social sciences and humanities. It will bring Nancy Chodorow and her canonical work to a new generation showcasing classic and contemporary Chodorowian scholarship.

Maternal Theory

Download Maternal Theory PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Demeter Press
ISBN 13 : 1772584037
Total Pages : 802 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (725 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Maternal Theory by : Andrea O'Reilly

Download or read book Maternal Theory written by Andrea O'Reilly and published by Demeter Press. This book was released on 2021-07-08 with total page 802 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theory on mothers, mothering and motherhood has emerged as a distinct body of knowledge within Motherhood Studies and Feminist Theory more generally. This collection, The Second Edition of Maternal Theory: Essential Readings introduces readers to this rich and diverse tradition of maternal theory. Composed of 60 chapters the 2nd edition includes two sections: the first with the classic texts by Adrienne Rich, Nancy Chodorow, Sara Ruddick, Alice Walker, Barbara Katz Rothman, bell hooks, Sharon Hays, Patricia Hill-Collins, Audre Lorde, Daphne de Marneffe, Judith Warner, Patrice diQinizio, Susan Maushart, and many more. The second section includes thirty new chapters on vital and new topics including Trans Parenting, Non-Binary Parenting, Queer Mothering, Matricentric Feminism, Normative Motherhood, Maternal Subjectivity, Maternal Narratology, Maternal Ambivalence, Maternal Regret, Monstrous Mothers, The Migrant Maternal, Reproductive Justice, Feminist Mothering, Feminist Fathering, Indigenous Mothering, The Digital Maternal, The Opt-Out Revolution, Black Motherhoods, Motherlines, The Motherhood Memoir, Pandemic Mothering, and many more. Maternal Theory is essential reading for anyone interested in motherhood as experience, ideology, and identity.

Double Identity

Download Double Identity PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harmondsworth, Middlesex : Penguin Books
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Double Identity by : Sue Sharpe

Download or read book Double Identity written by Sue Sharpe and published by Harmondsworth, Middlesex : Penguin Books. This book was released on 1984 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Matricentric Feminism

Download Matricentric Feminism PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Demeter Press
ISBN 13 : 1772580902
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (725 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Matricentric Feminism by : Andrea O'Reilly

Download or read book Matricentric Feminism written by Andrea O'Reilly and published by Demeter Press. This book was released on 2016-10-01 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book argues that the category of mother is distinct from the category of woman, and that many of the problems mothers face—social, economic, political, cultural, psychological, and so forth—are specific to women’s role and identity as mothers. Indeed, mothers are oppressed under patriarchy as women and as mothers. Consequently, mothers need a feminism of their own, one that positions mothers’ concerns as the starting point for a theory and politic of empowerment. O’Reilly terms this new mode of feminism matricentic feminism and the book explores how it is represented and experienced in theory, activism, and practice. The chapter on maternal theory examines the central theoretical concepts of maternal scholarship while the chapter on activism considers the twenty-first century motherhood movement. Feminist mothering is likewise examined as the specific practice of matricentric feminism and this chapter discusses various theories and strategies on and for maternal empowerment. Matricentric feminism is also examined in relation to the larger field of academic feminism; here O’Reilly persuasively shows how matricentric feminism has been marginalized in academic feminism and considers the reasons for such exclusion and how such may be challenged and changed.

Matricentric Feminism: Theory, Activism, Practice. The 2nd Edition

Download Matricentric Feminism: Theory, Activism, Practice. The 2nd Edition PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Demeter Press
ISBN 13 : 1772583820
Total Pages : 255 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (725 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Matricentric Feminism: Theory, Activism, Practice. The 2nd Edition by : Andrea O'Reilly

Download or read book Matricentric Feminism: Theory, Activism, Practice. The 2nd Edition written by Andrea O'Reilly and published by Demeter Press. This book was released on 2021-04-04 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2nd edition includes a new preface that considers how matricentric feminism in positioning mothering as a verb affords a gender-neutral understanding of motherwork and allows for an appreciation of how motherwork is deeply gendered and how this may be challenged and changed through empowered mothering The book argues that the category of mother is distinct from the category of woman, and that many of the problems mothers face are specific to women's role and identity as mothers. Indeed, mothers are oppressed under patriarchy as women and as mothers. Consequently, mothers need a feminism of their own, one that positions mothers' concerns as the starting point for a theory and politic of empowerment. O'Reilly terms this new mode of feminism matricentic feminism and the book explores how it is represented and experienced in theory, activism, and practice.

Releasing the Mother Load

Download Releasing the Mother Load PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Sounds True
ISBN 13 : 1649632266
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (496 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Releasing the Mother Load by : Erica Djossa

Download or read book Releasing the Mother Load written by Erica Djossa and published by Sounds True. This book was released on 2024-04-09 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “If you've ever felt like you're the only one struggling with motherhood, this book is for you.” —Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play From a maternal mental health specialist comes an empowering guide to help reshape your internalized expectations and beliefs around motherhood. Every mom wants to be a good parent—but if you’ve found yourself burned out and overwhelmed trying to be “the perfect mom,” you’re not alone. “We get handed a rulebook of motherhood without realizing it,” says Erica Djossa. “That rulebook comes with an invisible load—a world of mental and physical tasks that keeps us pushing toward perfection while barely being able to breathe.” With Releasing the Mother Load, this renowned parenting specialist shares a guide to help you break free from the crushing burden of unrealistic expectations and reclaim the joy of motherhood while staying true to your own values. As a therapist and the founder of the Momwell community, Erica has learned how many mothers from all backgrounds and walks of life feel trapped by modern motherhood. Here she dispels the falsehoods our culture has built around what it means to be a mom and shares practical, proven guidance for a more empowered approach to parenting, including: • What is the Mother Load? Where our expectations come from and why they don’t serve us or our children • Making the Mother Load visible—the true emotional and physical cost of the many jobs, habits, and beliefs we carry • Sharing the load—tools to establish strong boundaries, express your needs, and build a support system • Practical techniques and scripts to help you create a healthy, balanced, and enriching approach to motherhood “You can chart your own journey in a way that is freeing, feels right to you, and reignites passions and dreams that you thought had died when you began to put everyone else’s needs first,” says Erica Djossa. Here is a life-changing guide for developing a new vision of motherhood that lets you parent more freely and with greater fulfillment—so you can finally release the Mother Load.

Somatic Maternal Healing

Download Somatic Maternal Healing PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000957012
Total Pages : 146 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (9 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Somatic Maternal Healing by : Helena Vissing

Download or read book Somatic Maternal Healing written by Helena Vissing and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-09-26 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Somatic Maternal Healing introduces a cutting-edge understanding of the body into the growing field of perinatal mental health. Chapters lay out a complete trauma treatment model for maternal mental health, integrating psychodynamic and somatic clinical techniques within a systemic perspective. The book applies a biopsychosocial conceptualization of mental health in the perinatal period with a special emphasis on trauma and somatic trauma treatment. Somatic Maternal Healing is for anyone working clinically with mothers and new families, specifically therapists, clinical social workers, psychologists, psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, researchers, academics, clinical educators, and graduate students and trainees within these fields.

Intersections of Mothering

Download Intersections of Mothering PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429772890
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (297 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Intersections of Mothering by : Carole Zufferey

Download or read book Intersections of Mothering written by Carole Zufferey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-12-06 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents new interdisciplinary and intersectional research about women as mothers, highlighting that alternative accounts of mothering can challenge normative societal assumptions and broaden understandings of women as mothers, mothering and motherhoods. Mothering occurs within unequal power relations associated with the disadvantages and privileges of an unjust and patriarchal society. Social inequalities associated with gender, race, class, age, ability, sexuality, violence and nationalism intersect in the lives of women as mothers, to shape their lived experiences and perspectives on mothering. Showcasing the breadth and depth of feminist research on mothering, this book gives attention to the diversity of ways in which mothering is constructed and responded to as well as how mothering is experienced. Drawing on intersectional feminist thought, the book challenges normative visions of ‘good mothering’ and interrogates constructs of ‘bad mothering’. It brings together insights from multidisciplinary scholars who use feminist approaches in their research on mothering, to inform policy development and practice when working with women as mothers in diverse circumstances. Intersections of Mothering highlights the complexities of mothering in a contemporary world, show the benefits of considering mothering through an intersectional feminist lens, make visible lived experiences of mothers and provides challenges to dominant imaginings of and service responses to women as mothers. Intersections of Mothering will be essential reading for interdisciplinary scholars and students in criminology, gender and women’s studies, motherhood studies, social welfare, social work, social policy and public health policy, in addition to practitioners and policy workers that respond to women as mothers.

21st-Century Narratives of Maternal Ambivalence

Download 21st-Century Narratives of Maternal Ambivalence PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3031393511
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (313 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis 21st-Century Narratives of Maternal Ambivalence by : Rachel Williamson

Download or read book 21st-Century Narratives of Maternal Ambivalence written by Rachel Williamson and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-10-17 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Motherhood has long been depicted in reductive or limited terms. At once valorized and configured as the ultimate end-goal for socially condoned femininity, maternity is also highly mediated and scrutinized. This has resulted in a representational tradition that persists in imagining maternal subjects in rigid binary terms, pitting good mothers against bad. Largely in response to this repressive schema, recent years have marked the emergence of a diverse range of visual and literary texts about motherhood. While such texts vary in style, genre and form, this book argues that they are unified in their efforts to publicize embodied maternal experience and foreground maternal ambivalence, a concept that is best understood as a mother’s capacity to simultaneously love and hate her child. Although maternal ambivalence has become an increasingly popular topic of study with maternal scholars, its articulation within contemporary representations and narratives has yet to be adequately theorized and addressed, and this book aims to fill this gap.