Twenty-first Century Motherhood

Andrea O'Reilly's coverage is comprehensive. Her book reflects current trends in the field, particularly the examination of reproductive technologies and the Internet and the implications for motherhood and mothering. -- Heather Hewett, State University of New York, New Paltz, writer and editor of the Global Mama column for Girl with Pen (www.girlwpen.com) Twenty-first-century mothering is confronted by historically significant variables that warrant special attention in motherhood studies, as they profoundly impact maternal agency, identity, policy, and experience. Maternal theorizing must take into account the ways in which mothers and mothering are uniquely situated in the twenty-first century. Andrea O'Reilly offers a scholarly, accessible, and effective interdisciplinary collection that attends to these truths and nuances the study of mothering today. -- Amber Kinser, author of Motherhood and Feminism

A pioneer of modern motherhood studies, Andrea O'Reilly explores motherhood's current representation and practice, considering developments that were unimaginable decades ago: the Internet, interracial surrogacy, raising transchildren, male mothering, intensive mothering, queer parenting, the applications of new biotechnologies, and mothering in the post-9/11 era. Her work pulls together a range of disciplines and themes in motherhood studies. She confronts the effects of globalization, HIV/AIDS, welfare reform, politicians as mothers, third wave feminism, and the evolving motherhood movement, and she incorporates Chicana, African-American, Canadian, Muslim, queer, low-income, trans, and lesbian perspectives.