Final thoughts on ANTM

So in spite of the fact that all three moms on ANTM made the top four, the only woman who wasn’t a mom in that group wound up winning. I realize that there are plenty of other factors/reasons going into the choosing of a winner, but I want to pretend for a moment that [...]

Opting back in?

There was an interesting article in the NYTimes yesterday about women “opting back in” to the workplace after having children. The author of the article claimed this was a new trend- and that jobs with more flex time and shorter hours were the new thing for these women. Is this another new set [...]

Theorizing pregnancy- surveillance and response

I attended a lecture while I was abroad in Melbourne about fetal politics, with the main thesis of the talk being that increased surveillance of pregnancy via ultrasound and via policing of pregnant women’s behaviors have priviliged the fetus over the mother.
Ultrasounds are now taken not only for medical purposes, but frequently also [...]

Celebrity Moms- Angelina Jolie

In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought I might blog about some more celebrity moms. In particular, I wanted to blog about Angelina Jolie- the biggest celebrity motherhood icon right now. In the past three years, Jolie has adopted 3 children from around the world and given birth to one biological child fathered [...]

Meredith’s dual moms on Grey’s

Meredith Grey has had a rough year, right? She’s lost two mothers. But what I want to talk about is how those mothers treated her- and her relationship with them- when they were alive.
Ellis, Meredith’s biological mother, was a career woman. She resented Meredith both for hurting her career and for hurting [...]

Pregnant Congresswoman

This month, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash) will become only the fifth Congresswoman ever to give birth while in office.

Grey’s Anatomy last night

On a less serious note, there’s my favorite weekly soap opera popping up with something useful at exactly the right moment.  Okay, so I watched last night’s episode online just now, and of course I have to talk about it.  The situation with Izzie and her biological daughter is certainly an interesting potential plot for [...]

Partial Birth Abortion

So, perhaps this isn’t the most on-topic post for this blog, but I do want to talk about the “partial birth abortion” decision yesterday.  Abortion is a huge political issue to me, and I’ve made it a point to be well-read and well-debated on the topic.  I won’t make this a political grandstand or anything, I’ll [...]

Baby Lust?

Today in the New York Times Magazine was an article entitled “Baby Lust.” It discusses female infertility, and the existence of an “infertility industry.”  Men, it says, find infertility disappointing, but aside from the connection some make between infertility and impotence, it is not demoralizing.  For women, however, infertility can be “devestating.” 

Why Motherhood?

I suppose an introductory post is in order.  And I will try to say something here about why, exactly, I am interested in motherhood, and to clarify what my biases are.  Historically, of course, motherhood has been inextricably tied to womanhood.  Pregancy and childbirth are very major things which biologically do separate the experiences of female-bodied versus male-bodied [...]