Overview

This book unpacks and interrogates dominant constructions of mothering, making use of interdisciplinary, ideological and theoretical perspectives to investigate how new rhetorics of mothering can expand the realm of maternal care-givers beyond the biological definitions of motherhood. This diverse collection is at the cutting-edge of rhetoric, feminism, and motherhood studies, and the chapters challenge the confines of biological parenting as heteronormative within the neo-liberal nuclear family. The contributors examine, how despite the diversity of parental relationships, many are excluded by the understanding of mothers biologically tied to their children. The volume seeks to expose the underpinnings of biological primacy and argues that 21st-century families and familial circumstances are ill-served by biological ideology. Topics include Re-Imagining Queer Black Motherhood, Chicana Feminist approaches to reproductive justice, the commercialization and medicalization of infertility, and ableism and motherhood. This is a unique and fascinating book suitable for students and scholars in gender studies, sexuality studies, communication studies, sociology, and cultural studies.

Full Product Details

Author:   Valerie Renegar ,  Kirsti Cole
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.540kg
ISBN:  

9781032318660

ISBN 10:   103231866
Pages:   246
Publication Date:   31 January 2023
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

List of Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction: Resisting Rhetorics of Mothering, Intensive Mothering, and Biological Determinism VALERIE RENEGAR AND KIRSTI COLE PART I Intersections of Motherhood Figures Beyond Biology 1 Muslim Mothering and Divesting from Whiteness LAMIYAH BAHRAINWALA 2 SBF Seeking Motherhood: An Autoethnographic Journey Toward Pregnancy NATASHA R. HOWARD 3 Re-Imagining Queer Black Motherhood ELIZABETH Y. WHITTINGTON 4 Rhetorically Constructing Motherhood in Pregnancy Loss SARAH STEIMEL 5 Comadrisma, Mamás, and Tías: An Intersectional Chicana Feminist Approach to Comunidad and Reproductive Justice SARAH DE LOS SANTOS UPTON AND LEANDRA H. HERNANDEZ PART II Refiguring Media Representations of Motherhood Beyond Biology 6 Donors and Disclosures: Rhetorical Explanations of Assisted Reproductive Technology and Parenthood in Children’s Literature RAE LYNN SCHWARTZ-DUPRE AND STACEY K. SOWARDS 7 Las No-Madres: The Commercialization and Medicalization of Infertility in Quién quiere ser madre CATHERINE BOURLAND ROSS AND BAILEY BARLOW 8 The Limitations of (Privileged) Maternal Appeals: Sandra Steingraber’s Constructions of Mothering in a Toxic Environment MOLLIE K. MURPHY 9 Ableism and Motherhood: Invisible Illness and Moral Implications of “Good” Mothering ELIZABETH L. SPRADLEY 10 “‘But This is Supposed to be the Happiest Time of my Life!’: The Neoliberal Turn in Women’s Discourses of Postpartum in Our Bodies, Ourselves” JENNIFER ROME KRUSE 11 Spiritual Mothers: Evangelical Practices of Mothering in the 21st Century SARAH KORNFIELD PART III Refiguring the Rhetoric of Motherhood Beyond Biology 12 Reconceptualizing “Maternity” to Recognize Men: Images of Pregnant Trans Men as Visual Argument ERIKA M. THOMAS 13 A Visual Definition of Caregiving: Caring About, Caring for, and the Feminization of Care RACHEL D. DAVIDSON AND LARA C. STACHE 14 #MotherofExiles: Gender and Race in Motherhood Appeals to Protest Family Separation Policies HEIDI HAMILTON 15 “Good” Mothering and the Question of Migrant Mothers at the Border KATHERINE J. HAMPSTEN 16 Challenges to Neoliberal Parenting and the Rise of the Ideal Stepmother VALERIE RENEGAR AND KIRSTI COLE Afterword SARA HAYDEN AND JENNIFER L. BORDA Index

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Author Information

Valerie Renegar is a Professor of Communication Studies at Southwestern University, and the holder of the Herman Brown Chair. Her research focuses on feminist rhetoric as well as the role of rhetoric in social change. Her work appears in several outlets including Hypatia, Women’s Studies in Communication, Communication Studies, Howard Journal of Communications, and the Western Journal of Communication as well as chapters in a number of edited collections. Kirsti Cole is a Professor of Rhetoric, Composition, and Literature at Minnesota State University. She is the faculty chair of the Teaching Writing Graduate Certificate and Master’s of Communication and Composition programs. She has published articles in Women’s Studies in Communication, TCQ, Feminist Media Studies, College English, harlot, and thirdspace, as well as a number of chapters in edited collections. Her collection Feminist Challenges or Feminist Rhetorics was published in 2014. She has also edited the following collections with Holly Hassel: Surviving Sexism in the Academy: Feminist Strategies for Leadership (2017), Academic Labor beyond the College Classroom: Working for Our Values (2020), and Transformations: Change Work Across Writing Programs, Pedagogies, and Practices (2021).

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