In feminism, the institution of mothering/motherhood has been a highly contested area in how it relates to the oppression of women. As Adrienne Rich articulated in her classic 1976 book Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution, although motherhood as an institution is a male-defined site of oppression, women's own experiences of mothering can nonetheless be a source of power. This volume examines four locations wherin motherhood is simultaneously experienced as a site of oppression and of power: emodiment, representation, practice, and separation.
Motherhood: Power and Oppression includes psychological, historical, sociological, literary, and cultural approaches to inquiry and a wide range of disciplinary perspectives — qualitative, quantitative, corporeal, legal, religious, fictional, mythological, dramatic and action research.
This rich collection not only covers a wide range of subject matter but also illustrates ways of doing feminist research and practice.

Andrea O'Reilly is an Assistant Professor in the School of Women's Studies at York University.

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Marie Porter is currently completing her PhD at the School of History, Philosophy, Religion, and Classics at the University of Queensland, Australia.

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Patricia Short is a lecturer in sociology in the School of Social Science at the University of Queensland, Australia.

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