Begin forwarded message: From: Cécile Coquet <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Date: 8 April 2016 19:33:24 BST To: <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Subject: CFP: Mother Figures and Representations of Motherhood in English-speaking Societies Reply-To: Cécile Coquet <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Mother Figures and Representations of Motherhood in English-speaking Societies Alternately celebrated and pilloried, mother figures have been assigned contradictory roles throughout the histories of English-speaking societies. Reflecting the power structures and conflicts of their times, they have been portrayed as pillars of society, providing material and emotional security, and models of sacrifice, or vilified for failing to perpetuate the expected values of individual responsibility and self-control. Nearly a century after winning political emancipation and almost half a century after the historic struggles for sexual emancipation—which yielded unequal results from one country to another—, women in all segments of society in the USA, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth are still regarded as second-class citizens, particularly when viewed and politicised through the lens of motherhood and mothering. While social change has gradually progressed since early conflicts for emancipation, improvement has been opposed by an increasingly stigmatising rhetoric targeting the most vulnerable women — teenage mothers, lone mothers, surrogate mothers, disabled mothers, older mothers, adoptive mothers, migrant or mothers identified in racial terms, women raising their families in urban or rural poverty, mothers with AIDS, lesbian or transsexual mothers, sex workers, inmates with children or mothers whose children are in foster care: each of these figures of ‘inadequate,’ ‘dysfunctional’ or ‘undeserving’ motherhood is held responsible for her situation. Access to sex education, information on reproductive rights or structures to address her specific needs are increasingly restricted and conditional. Traditionally extolled as an accomplishment in a woman’s life, motherhood is nonetheless equated with a loss of status or personhood for women when the state or other legal persons endowed with ethical legitimacy can claim a right to interfere with their access to sex education, reproductive rights, family benefits, day-care or parenting choices. This conference aims to question the various ways in which motherhood is judged, how political choices are translated into cultural representations of mothers as either icons or scapegoats, and how these representations are received and challenged in a quest for either conformity or agency. The following approaches are particularly welcome, whether they address the USA, the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Commonwealth or the English-speaking parts of Africa: - Representations of mother figures and motherhood in literature, the arts, and popular culture - Representations of motherhood in religious traditions and New Religious Movements - Roles assigned to mother figures in the perpetuation of gender roles. - The evolution of legislation on the age of consent and family policies since the 19th century - Sex education and the prevention of teenage pregnancies - Forms of mothering and choices of traditional or alternative mothering styles - Motherhood and racial or ethnic Othering - Inmates who are mothers - Mothers in the military - Motherhood and urban or rural poverty/downward mobility - Motherhood and homosexuality - Motherhood and transsexuality - Motherhood among sex workers - Motherhood and social and sanitary norms - Motherhood and disability/AIDS/illness - Teenage pregnancy - Older motherhood - Lone motherhood - Single motherhood by choice - Adoption - Surrogate motherhood and ectogenesis - Foster care and stigmatisation of ‘inadequate’ parenting - Eugenicist undercurrents in scientific and political discourse 300-word abstracts along with a short CV in English should be sent by September 1, 2016 to Dr. Cécile Coquet-Mokoko ( [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) and Prof. Fabienne Portier-Le Cocq ( [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>). Best papers will be published. The conference will be held at The University of Tours, France, from April 3 to 5, 2017. ************************************************************* * Anthropology-Matters Mailing List * http://www.anthropologymatters.com * * A postgraduate project comprising online journal, * * online discussions, teaching and research resources * * and international contacts directory. * * To join this list or to look at the archived previous * * messages visit: * * http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/Anthropology-Matters.HTML * * If you have ALREADY subscribed: to send a message to all * * those currently subscribed to the list,just send mail to: * * [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> * * * * Enjoyed the mailing list? 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