motherhood

Policing Parents: Jessamine Chan’s “The School for Good Mothers” Imagines a Carceral State for “Bad” Moms

The book cover of "The School for Good Mothers" by Jessamine Chan is pictured on a beige and burgundy background.
by Nylah Burton
January 20, 2022 at 2:40pm
In Jessamine Chan’s debut novel, “The School for Good Mothers,” the question of how to punish bad mothers is answered by the state, in an America not much different from our own.
Author Catherine McCormack, a young blonde woman with long hair, stands in front of green foliage. Next to her is an image of her book cover for Women in the Picture.

Women in the Picture: The Art Historian Challenging the Western Gaze Through a Feminist Lens

by Nicole Diaz-Radlauer
December 2, 2021 at 12:27pm
A new book explores the power of artistic imagery from Venus to Beyoncé. Read more »
Halsey dressed in a black crown, veil, and ornate gown with bold shoulders that leak upwards in watercolor.

Personal Parallels: Halsey’s Gothic Film Is a Gendered Journey Through Pregnancy

by Rachel Saywitz
November 9, 2021 at 3:46pm
“I am not a woman, I’m a god / I am not a martyr, I’m a problem.” Read more »
Ilana Glazer plays Rose, a white woman with short brown hair, who is lying on her back in a hospital gown on an exam table

Demon Seed: “False Positive” Treats Wombs as Receptacles for Terror

by Sadaf Ahsan
August 25, 2021 at 10:36am
In each of these films, it’s the male ego that guides the doctors and fathers. Read more »
a collage of two books: The Upstairs House by Julia Fine and Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

Mother Monsters: Two New Books Get Raw about Mothering as a “Natural” Role

by Scarlett Harris
July 20, 2021 at 12:42pm
“Maybe this was what happened to all moms and no one had told her.” Read more »
Catherine O’Hara, a white woman with short red hair who looks shocked, plays Kate McCallister in Home Alone

Bad (White) Moms Dominate Christmas Movies

by Scarlett Harris
December 16, 2020 at 10:31am
Perhaps we’re not far enough removed from the bigoted assumptions that moms who don’t fit the mold aren’t parenting correctly. Read more »
a close-up shot of Vanessa Kirby, a white woman, holding Shia LeBeouf, a bearded white man's face in her hands in Pieces of a Woman

Shot to Pieces: “Pieces of a Woman” Is a New Take on a Well-Worn Trope

by Jourdain Searles
November 2, 2020 at 1:46pm
What does it mean to make an “authentic” film about tragedy? Read more »
Abby Johnson, a white woman with brown hair, speaks at the Republican National Convention.

Abby Johnson Is Hiding Her Racism behind Her Black Son

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
August 27, 2020 at 12:01pm
“Statistically, my brown son is more likely to commit a violent offense over my white sons, okay?” Read more »
The Moms protest group chants slogans during a protest in front of the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse.

Why Is Activism Reserved for White Moms?

by Marianne Dhenin
August 25, 2020 at 10:39am
Black mothers have long been doing the work. Read more »
A mom holds her child, both of their faces obscured. The sky is bright blue behind them.

“Impersonation” Explores a Power Struggle Between Two Feminist Moms

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
August 25, 2020 at 10:28am
What can a woman and a mother with no money afford to say no to? Read more »
Myka Stauffer, a white woman with long blond hair, holds a baby and smiles at it in the mirror.

YouTuber Myka Stauffer Illustrates the Problem with White Adoptive Parents

by Andrea Ruggirello
July 14, 2020 at 10:39am
Adoptees have long known what it’s like to have our stories usurped by adoptive parents. Read more »

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