June 23, 2006

A Remedy for Mother Judgement

Well, first there were the CDC guidelines to treat all women as "pre-pregnant," as outlined in this article in the Washington Post and subsequent MetaFilter dicussion.

Then there was the breastfeeding awareness campaign that equated not breastfeeding with riding a mechanical bull while pregnant, as detailed in the New York Times article, Breast-Feed or Else.

And then, the constant policing of mothers was recently brought to light in the mainstream media by the Britney Spears interview on NBC's Dateline.

It's a tough time to be a mother.

Thankfully, there is a wave of mothering activism which is countering the mother judgement. MomsRising.org, a grassroots organization dedicated to moving motherhood and family issues to the forefront of US politics, is one such group. It was founded by Joan Blades and Kristen Rowe-Finkbeiner, authors of The Motherhood Manifesto. Literary Mama recently became one of their aligned organizations.

Recently, Judy Stadtman Tucker, founder of Mothers Movement Online, an organization founded to promote economic and social justice for mothers and caregivers, was the guest of honour at a Bay Area Mother Talk. Literary Mama Reviews Editor Rebecca Kaminsky gave her recount of the evening:

The latest Bay Area Mother Talk's guest of honor, Judy Stadtman Tucker, founder of Mothers Movement Online, led a discussion that lasted late into the night. We all left with our "inner activists" energized. Judy is dedicating her life to being at the forefront of the new Mothers' Movement, and it shows in that she came into our small group of Mothers and immediately had everyone involved in the discussion. The evening's topics included: how we can best further our cause, the meaning of "caregiving" and the place it should hold in the world of "work", the role writers play in activism, the latest in rocker mama bands, if and where "mommy wars" take place, parents' rights in the workplace, and what we'd like the USA to look like in ten years with mothers (and fathers and all caregivers) in mind. The evening's guests included Motherlode members Ursula Goulet, Sarah Raleigh Kilts, and Rebecca Kaminsky; Bloggermom and LM contributor Mary Tsao; and attorney and motherhood activist Charlotte Fishman. For a more detailed recap of the evening check out Mary Tsao's blogpost here -- and be sure to check out the comments which include a fascinating back and forth between readers and author of the MMO essay "Lucky": Shannon Hyland-Tassava. Thanks to everyone for a wonderful evening!