Maternal Bodies

Redefining Motherhood in Early America

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, Colonial Period (1600-1775), 19th Century, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Women&
Cover of the book Maternal Bodies by Nora Doyle, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Nora Doyle ISBN: 9781469637204
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: March 19, 2018
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Nora Doyle
ISBN: 9781469637204
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: March 19, 2018
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

In the second half of the eighteenth century, motherhood came to be viewed as women's most important social role, and the figure of the good mother was celebrated as a moral force in American society. Nora Doyle shows that depictions of motherhood in American culture began to define the ideal mother by her emotional and spiritual roles rather than by her physical work as a mother. As a result of this new vision, lower-class women and non-white women came to be excluded from the identity of the good mother because American culture defined them in terms of their physical labor.

However, Doyle also shows that childbearing women contradicted the ideal of the disembodied mother in their personal accounts and instead perceived motherhood as fundamentally defined by the work of their bodies. Enslaved women were keenly aware that their reproductive bodies carried a literal price, while middle-class and elite white women dwelled on the physical sensations of childbearing and childrearing. Thus motherhood in this period was marked by tension between the lived experience of the maternal body and the increasingly ethereal vision of the ideal mother that permeated American print culture.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In the second half of the eighteenth century, motherhood came to be viewed as women's most important social role, and the figure of the good mother was celebrated as a moral force in American society. Nora Doyle shows that depictions of motherhood in American culture began to define the ideal mother by her emotional and spiritual roles rather than by her physical work as a mother. As a result of this new vision, lower-class women and non-white women came to be excluded from the identity of the good mother because American culture defined them in terms of their physical labor.

However, Doyle also shows that childbearing women contradicted the ideal of the disembodied mother in their personal accounts and instead perceived motherhood as fundamentally defined by the work of their bodies. Enslaved women were keenly aware that their reproductive bodies carried a literal price, while middle-class and elite white women dwelled on the physical sensations of childbearing and childrearing. Thus motherhood in this period was marked by tension between the lived experience of the maternal body and the increasingly ethereal vision of the ideal mother that permeated American print culture.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book A History of the Oratorio by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book Bonds of Union by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book Evangelizing the Chosen People by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book A Freedom Bought with Blood by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book Kingdom to Commune by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book In the Hands of Providence by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book Making Gullah by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book "The Issue Is the Control of Public Schools": The Politics of Desegregation in Prince Edward County, Virginia by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book Simone Weil by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book Home Fires Burning by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book Editor in Politics by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book Bernardo de Gálvez by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book Hearthside Cooking by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book Chinese Mexicans by Nora Doyle
Cover of the book Insuring National Health Care by Nora Doyle
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy