Mothering, Time, and Antimaternalism

Mary K. Trigg is Associate Professor, Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Rutgers University

"In this compelling analysis of the temporal regulation of motherhood, Mary Trigg treats time as one of many resources denied to mothers. Focusing on poor white rural migrants, African Americans, and Irish American Catholics from 1920 to 1960, she underscores the unrealistic expectations that time discipline and antimaternalist discourse imposed on mothers -- and analyzes women’s response. A valuable and thought-provoking study."- Molly Ladd-Taylor, Professor Emerita, History Department, York University, and co-editor of ‘Bad’ Mothers: The Politics of Blame in Twentieth-Century America."Mary Trigg powerfully and passionately illustrates how women’s experiences, including motherhood, have been overlooked in male-central scholarship across the disciplines. The writing style is engaging, and the subject matter is captivating. Trigg has done an excellent job selecting subject matter that illustrates anti-maternalism in diverse cultural contexts yet weaving these disparate subjects into a narrative that is compelling and engaging. I highly recommend this book for graduate seminars in feminist history, feminist methodology, and women’s studies."- Amy Koerber, Professor and Associate Dean, College of Media & Communication, Texas Tech University, and author of From Hysteria to Hormones: A Rhetorical History.

• Introduction, 1 Alarm Clocks in the Soul: Scientific Motherhood, Temporal Regulation, and Antimaternalism, 2 A Pro-Maternal Narrative and Archive: Dorothea Lange’s Photographs of Rural Mothers, 3 Reclaiming Maternity: African-American Mothers and Maternal Grief as a Counter-Narrative, 4 Herself: Irish-American Catholic Mothers, Maternal Power, and Antimaternalism, 5 Antimaternalism and the Work of Care: How is this Showing Up Today?