Maternal Narratives in Public Contexts: Shaping Perspectives and Enacting Identities brings together critical research on the construction and enactment of mothering and motherhood in public spheres. The book is divided into two parts – in the first part, authors examine how prevailing ideals of motherhood influence twenty-first century culture by exploring iterations of maternal identity in various media forms, from Dr. Spock’s self-help guide to film and small-screen entertainment. In the second part, the authors investigate how tropes of motherhood manifest and operate in academia, the workplace, and in political spheres. Ultimately, this book explores how maternal identities are both formed and articulated in public discourse, arguing that rhetorical influences inform the ways in which we define, recognize, and enact maternal identities and the sociocultural ramifications that result within communication contexts. Scholars of communication, media studies, film and television studies, cultural studies, rhetoric, and women’s and gender studies will find this book of particular interest.
By:
Catherine A. Dobris,
Rachel Davidson,
Kim White-Mills
Contributions by:
Janice Day,
Morgan Dosterglick
Imprint: Lexington Books
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781666923902
ISBN 10: 1666923907
Pages: 276
Publication Date: 12 February 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Chapter 1: The Spockian Mother: Images of the “Good” Mother in Dr. Spock’s The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, 1946-1992 Catherine A. Dobris, Kim White-Mills, Rachel D. Davidson, and Toula V. Wellbrook Chapter 2: What Makes a “Bad” Mom “Bad”?: Lucas and Moore’s Bad Moms (2016) and A Bad Moms Christmas (2017) Catherine A. Dobris, Rachel D. Davidson, and Kim White-Mills Chapter 3: Juxtaposing Incongruities and Undermining Feminist Alternatives: Gender, Sexuality, and Caregiving in Netflix’s, I Care A Lot (2020) Rachel D. Davidson and Catherine A. Dobris Chapter 4: Film as Invitational Rhetoric: Transcending Motherhood Narratives through Community in 20th Century Women Rachel D. Davidson and Catherine A. Dobris Chapter 5: Animating the Nuances of the “Bad Mother”: Rhetorical Strategies of Resistance in BoJack Horseman Catherine A. Dobris and Rachel D. Davidson Chapter 6: Social Media and Motherhood: “Karen” as the New Bad Mother Catherine A. Dobris, Rachel D. Davidson, and Janice Day Chapter 7: A Rhetoric of Domestic Responsibility: Uncovering Patriarchal Motherhood in Unpaid Caregiving Advocacy Rhetoric Rachel D. Davidson and Catherine A. Dobris Chapter 8: Faculty as Caregiver and Mother-Substitutes: Exploring Female Faculty Members’ Perceptions of Mothering Behaviors in the Classroom Kim White-Mills and Rachel D. Davidson Chapter 9: Negotiating Identity: Mothers’ Adoption of Organizational Identities Kim White-Mills and Morgan Dosterglick Chapter 10: The Rhetoric of Wives and Mothers on the Highest Court in the Land: Narrative Probability and Fidelity in Women’s Supreme Court Nominees’ Opening Statements Catherine A. Dobris, Kim White-Mills, Rachel D. Davidson, and Janice Day Chapter 11: Republican Motherhood in Public Health Campaigns: A Rhetorical Analysis of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Program Morgan Dosterglick, Catherine A. Dobris, and Rachel D. Davidson Chapter 12: The Mother in All of Us: How Michelle Obama, Jill Biden, and Kamala Harris Rhetorically Engage the Motherhood Narrative Catherine A. Dobris and Rachel D. Davidson
Rachel D. Davidson is associate professor in the Department of Communication at Hanover College. Catherine A. Dobris is associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Indiana University Indianapolis. Kim White-Mills is director of graduate programs and faculty in the Department of Communication Studies at Indiana University Indianapolis.
