Abstract
The essays collected in Mothering in the Third Wave share feminist concerns for gender and socioeconomic equality, consequences of privilege and marginalization, and intentional parenting practices to advance social change. Writing from their perspectives as feminists, mostly in academic settings, several authors describe personal experiences that challenged their feminist views and practices. Such situations include displacement by Hurricane Katrina, not knowing the whereabouts of their young children in London during the 2005 bombings, and social isolation related to nonconformity to conventional social expectations. Other essays describe the relevance of race/ethnicity and culture to parenting practices. The topics include the intersections of race, culture, class, gender, sexual orientation, and parenting approaches. One essay explores the experiences of a lesbian adoptive couple of two African American male teenagers in white suburbia; others reflect on cultural aspects of Latina mothering, the maternal erotic, and representations of motherhood. The essays that are perhaps most relevant to social work explore the physical and emotional aspects of foster care and adoption, questioning the presumed priority of nurturance in mothering practices.
The volume is of interest to social work in its clear articulation of the relationship of mothering to social justice. Also relevant is the focus on feminist approaches to understanding intersections of gender, culture, race, and socioeconomic status in mothering relationships. The examination of women’s relationships with each other, as well as with their children, is particularly interesting. One essay section entitled, “Militant Mom: At War with Other Mothers,” discusses reactions to critical, unsolicited advice on parenting from other mothers about how the author could better manage the “rebellion” of her son with special needs. The author concludes: “In their personal wars, mothers of children with special needs must remain vigilant, always prepared to fight for their unique mothering ways and for their unique children’s futures” (p. 146).
At times, essays comparing the authors’ experiences with those of women from different cultural and/or economic backgrounds raise difficult questions. Although sensitive to the dynamics of privilege, some examples seem unintentionally to reinforce the social distance they are attempting to minimize. For example, one author compares the social support and personal empowerment she gained from shared child care arrangements in Switzerland to othermothering traditions that are associated with women in Africa. Although recognition of privilege is clearly articulated, contextual considerations are relatively absent. Framing her experience as a posttenure sabbatical during which her “Swiss husband was offered an incredible, career-enhancing job” (p. 111), the author describes the tremendous individual and community benefits that she and other women derived from sharing mothering responsibilities in the expatriate Swiss community. The discussion of her decision to return to the United States for a full-time academic position includes no mention of women with limited resources for whom othermothering is a necessity, rather than a choice. In other essays, criticisms of upper middle-class, suburban, stay-at-home mothers similarly tend to minimize cross-cultural economic pressures to aspire to such lifestyles. In summary, the volume explores terrain that is relevant to social work and familiar to many educated feminists, but the tensions it engages are frequently bound by the inequalities it professes to resist.