„Motherhood in Patriarchy“ pioneers the argument that the current Western understanding of motherhood is a patriarchal one based on a long historical tradition of subjection and institutionalization. The book makes an important contribution to women’s studies on reproduction, feminist theory, motherhood and welfare politics, and offers alternative perspectives.

Motherhood is a powerful virtue. However, in a patriarchal society, it is construed narrowly to uphold the heteronormative family norms which prioritize men over women. This traditional framework overlooks the diverse family forms and alienates female-headed households. Rather, families headed by lone mothers are chastened and labelled as broken, pathological, and degenerative. Despite constitutional guarantees of equality and justice, the state and society alienate them, deny them visibility, and absolve themselves of the responsibilities of protecting their citizenship rights. Nevertheless, for ages, single mothers, despite all hardships, have been defying patriarchal norms and are bringing up their children solely, with little support available from their families, society, or the state. Rather, they are challenging the dominant and hegemonic `male breadwinner and provider’ model. This work examines this active and empowered notion of motherhood, or feminist and emancipatory mothering, while focusing on how lone mothers are redefining and reshaping the socio-cultural norms to pave the social transformation through their maternal activism. With the increase in the number of female-headed households, this work recommends the need for an alternative approach to disrupt the dominant themes of victimhood, poverty, destitution, and neglect by deploying the axis of intersectionality. It suggests that the state needs to evolve a comprehensive empowerment framework to specifically recognize the entitlements of single mothers as citizens and take steps to advance their citizenship rights.

Explores how Rich's work has influenced feminist scholarship on motherhood.

Essays explore a wide range of contemporary feminist mothering practices.

Are you tired of living in a world where women are undervalued and underpaid? Do you believe that women deserve better? Then this book is for you. "Burning Down the Patriarchy" is a powerful call to arms that exposes the systemic injustices that women face. It explores the hidden ways in which women are restricted and oppressed, from wage disparities to the expectations placed on them as mothers. This book will empower you to: - Understand the deep-seated societal structures that have been built to oppress women. - Recognize and confront internalized misogyny. - Demystify the wage gap and learn about the systematic ways in which women are denied equal pay. - Uncover the overlooked and undervalued unpaid work women do at home. - Discover the shocking reality of the 'Pink Tax' and how it perpetuates economic inequality. - Navigate the treacherous 'Glass Cliff' that sets women up for failure in leadership roles. - Unpack the damaging beauty standards weaponized against women and its impact on mental health. - Learn about the erasure of women from history and the importance of recognizing their contributions. - Expose the sexualization of women in media and society and its harmful consequences. - Understand the pressures of motherhood and how society expects women to fulfill this role. - Discover the importance of bodily autonomy and the fight for reproductive rights. If you want to ignite change and work towards a future where women are recognized as equals, then this book is your guide. So, grab a copy of "Burning Down the Patriarchy" today and join the revolution!

Interdisciplinary and intersectional in emphasis, the Routledge Companion to Motherhood brings together essays on current intellectual themes, issues, and debates, while also creating a foundation for future scholarship and study as the field of Motherhood Studies continues to develop globally. This Routledge Companion is the first extensive collection on the wide-ranging topics, themes, issues, and debates that ground the intellectual work being done on motherhood. Global in scope and including a range of disciplinary perspectives, including anthropology, literature, communication studies, sociology, women’s and gender studies, history, and economics, this volume introduces the foundational topics and ideas in motherhood, delineates the diversity and complexity of mothering, and also stimulates dialogue among scholars and students approaching from divergent backgrounds and intellectual perspectives. This will become a foundational text for academics in Women's and Gender Studies and interdisciplinary researchers interested in this important, complex and rapidly growing topic. Scholars of psychology, sociology or public policy, and activists in both university and workplace settings interested in motherhood and mothering will find it an invaluable guide.

Using a variety of critical and theoretical approaches, the contributing scholars to this collection analyze culturally specific and globally held attitudes about mothers and mothering, as represented in world cinema. Examining films from a range of countries including Afghanistan, India, Iran, Eastern Europe, Canada, and the United States, the various chapters contextualize the socio-cultural realities of motherhood as they are represented on screen, and explore the maternal figure as she has been glamorized and celebrated, while simultaneously subjected to public scrutiny. Collectively, this scholarly investigation provides insights into where women’s struggles converge, while also highlighting the dramatically different realities of women around the globe.

Infertility and Patriarchy explores the lives of infertile women whose personal stories depict their daily struggles to resist disempowerment and stigmatization. Marcia C. Inhorn has produced a unique study of gender, politics, and family life in contemporary Egypt.

This book surveys both the part women have played in Buddhism historically and what Buddhism might become in its post-patriarchal future. The author completes the Buddhist historical record by discussing women, usually absent from histories of Buddhism, and she provides the first feminist analysis of the major concepts found in Buddhist religion. Gross demonstrates that the core teachings of Buddhism promote gender equity rather than male dominance, despite the often sexist practices found in Buddhist institutions throughout history.

Traditional ways of dividing work by gender are disappearing and new ways of ordering our lives are emerging. Today, women and men engage in various forms of work in the course of a lifetime: work for pay, housework, family care-taking work, volunteer work. Our expansion of work roles holds great promise for our personal development, the well-being of families, and the health of society. We can weave together all forms of work, with determination and imagination, as we open doors for future generations. Our attitudes, values, and world views are changing along with our working patterns. Old ideal images, now limiting and harmful, are losing their power. Opportunities for theological reformation emerge based on a new understanding of human nature, just love, and the order of society. We live in an accelerating time of great change and great consequence. This is a book for such a time.