Research 2006
The Work of Motherhood
Fiona Green
Assistant Professor and Coordinator,
Women’s and Gender Studies Program
A history of feminist mothering might one day begin with the work of Fiona Green, who has spent much of her career studying the interrelationship of feminism and what she calls the “project of mothering.”
“Mothering is invisible work, unless there is a screaming child in the check out line,” says Green, talking about the popular idealism that defines motherhood. She says mothers in our society are compelled to meet unrealistic demands, and are given instructions that suggest their job is something that can be done perfectly.
Green’s most recent work includes a paper analyzing Supernanny and other similar reality television shows. “All the TV mother needs is to be taught the right skills, so in comes an expert with no children of her own, to discipline these lax mothers who’ve lost control of their children. It reinforces a narrative of motherhood which is impossible, fictitious, yet it’s played on television as reality.” Green says that what’s missing from the popular narrative is any discussion of the demands we make of mothers.
It’s a long haul,” says Green. “When they’re 12, they shun you, yet it’s your total responsibility to make sure this kid is a fully-functioning member of society who’s well-adjusted, who isn’t going to be a burden to anybody. It’s an impossible ideal.”
What Green seeks is another way to mother, continuing groundbreaking research she started ten years ago with her PhD work. Then, she interviewed self-identified feminist mothers about what that meant and how it informed their parenting. What she found was that to a great extent feminism hasn’t recognized mothering as a site of political work.
“I still think feminism has a lot of work to do around mothering. It hasn’t been seen as a primary issue. But if we think of feminism as grassroots, what could be more grassroots than the intensive, 24-hour-a-day relationships that moms and kids have? Is it a place where feminism is alive, and what does it look like?”
Now, Green wants to talk to the grown children of ten of her original subjects. “If it’s true that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, then what happens to kids raised by mothers who know that idealized motherhood is a sham but are being mothers anyway, in a different way?”
To learn more about her research on motherhood and parenting, contact University of Winnipeg faculty member Fiona Green at f.green@uwinnipeg.ca