Date of Award
6-2017
Document Type
Open Access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Lori Marso
Language
English
Keywords
birth control, motherhood, abortion, medea
Abstract
Can a woman be a woman without being a mother? By studying the control of women's bodies around reproduction, my work elucidates the insistence on women becoming "good mothers" for society. Is the childless woman a monster? Analysis of the Medea trope identifies that the most monstrous woman of all is thought to be the woman who kills her children. And while white women fight for reproductive choice, women of color fight for reproductive freedom, as coercive policies such as forced sterilization deprive women of color as even being considered as potential mothers. Society's insistence on women fulfilling their destiny as good mothers produces several versions of social panic about mothers, demonstrating that women are still inextricably linked with motherhood.
Recommended Citation
Henry, Gillian, "Monstrous Mothers: The Politics of Forced Mothering" (2017). Honors Theses. 42.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/42
Included in
Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Political Science Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Women's Studies Commons