Feminist Mothering in Theory and Practice, 1985-1995: A Study in Transformative Politics

Absent from feminist discourse on mothering is a sustained examination of the interconnection between feminism and mothering, and an exploration of the lived realities of women who are mothering as feminists. This book addresses these deficiencies by exploring how particular feminist mothers at the end of the twentieth century view motherhood, how they choose to parent from a position informed by that understanding and how their mothering influences their feminism. Intensive interviews with 16 self-identified feminist mothers living in or around Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in the mid 1990s and the use of a feminist, experientially based research methodology, reveals how feminist mothers understand conventional notions of motherhood and create alternatives in their mothering that transform their lives. As agents who consciously name, define and construct themselves as feminist mothers, these women purposefully bring their understanding of feminism to their parenting. In their struggle to reject the more restrictive aspects of motherhood and create alternative meanings and practices of mothering, they adopt elements of teaching identified with feminist pedagogy. These mothers engage in praxis - the simultaneous act of thoughtful reflection and action - in their relationships with their children. By uniting their feminism and mothering they transform the meaning of mothering and contribute to the development of feminist theory and activism.