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... > social science subjects > sociology > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood and society > motherhood studies > feminist theory and mothering
... > social science subjects > psychology > social psychology > interpersonal relationships > human relationships > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood and society > motherhood studies > feminist theory and mothering
... > social science subjects > sociology > social interaction > human relationships > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood and society > motherhood studies > feminist theory and mothering
... > social science subjects > sociology > social theory > micro-interactionist theory > social interaction > human relationships > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood and society > motherhood studies > feminist theory and mothering
... > social science subjects > sociology > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood studies > feminist theory and mothering
... > social science subjects > psychology > social psychology > interpersonal relationships > human relationships > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood studies > feminist theory and mothering
... > social science subjects > sociology > social interaction > human relationships > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood studies > feminist theory and mothering
... > social science subjects > sociology > social theory > micro-interactionist theory > social interaction > human relationships > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood studies > feminist theory and mothering

Preferred term

feminist theory and mothering  

Definition

  • In the 19th and early 20th centuries, assumptions about women's innate maternal capacity went relatively unchallenged, as did assumptions about the relationship between identity and motherhood, societal structures that impeded or facilitated mothers' self-determination as mothers, and the relationships between race and class bias and the variable value of motherwork. In the 1970s, Jessie Bernard's discussions of motherhood as a social institution rather than merely biological fact in her The Future of Motherhood, then Adrienne Rich's distinction between the patriarchal institution of motherhood and the women-centered experience of mothering in her influential work Of Woman Born, helped to direct feminist critical analyses into issues related to motherhood specifically.In particular, it helped feminism to consider ways that mothering can function as both oppressive and emancipatory, and to destabilize the former functions while securing and supporting the latter. [Source: Encyclopedia of Motherhood; Feminist Theory and Mothering]

Broader concept

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/feminist_theory_and_mothering

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