 Impetus
for this landmark collection emerged from the extraordinary success of
the Moms Gone Mad: Motherhood and Madness Oppression and Resistance
International Conference in New York City, 2009. Cultural meanings
extolled on motherhood are often overlooked and many women struggle and
personalize issues to themselves and remain silent. This anthology
synthesizes and roars out marginalized experiences of moms in a culture
that relegates unconventional experiences to 'craziness' and her own
'madness'. From a feminist perspective, scholars in motherhood across
disciplines and mothers steeped in the experience have come together to
capture multifarious experiences of oppression to resistance in a
groundbreaking anthology that embodies motherhood empowerment. This book
enhances dialogue and revolutionizes our understanding of motherhood
constructions and experiences by exploring the underbelly of mothering
and subjugated experiences such as women's inhumanity to women and
deconstructing notions of 'mommy' in literature/media that are
oppressive. Critical examinations of the 'good mother', 'mother-shame',
and 'mother-guilt', growing up a daughter of depression, body image and
disordered eating in motherhood, postpartum depression are explored as
well as experiences such as single motherhood, mothering a child with
disability, and childlessness; and perceived anomalies such as losing a
child to suicide and postpartum psychosis and more.
Dr. Gina Wong is an
Associate Professor in the Graduate Centre for Applied Psychology at
Athabasca University, Canada. She is a Registered Psychologist who
specializes and publishes/presents nationally and internationally on
maternal mental health and wellness. Gina directs a counselling and
consulting practice devoted to adolescent girls and women. She is a
Board of Director with the Motherhood Initiative for Research and
Community Involvement and Demeter Press and is an Advisory Board member
with the Journal of Motherhood Initiative. She is the Alberta
Co-coordinator with Postpartum Support International and directs the
Disordered Eating and Body Image Treatment (DEBIT) Program. Gina resides
in Edmonton, Alberta with her two young daughters.
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