Andrea O'Reilly

Sharon Abbey

In 1976, Adrienne Rich wrote in Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution that "the cathexis between mother and daughter--essential, distorted, misused--is the great unwritten story." In the quarter century since Rich wrote those words, the topic of mothers and daughters has emerged as a salient issue in feminist scholarship. Using women's writing, film, feminist theory, and personal experience, contributors to Mothers and Daughters explore how the mother/daughter relationship is represented and experienced as a site of empowerment. This volume will offer readers an important and welcome chapter in the story of the complex relationship that is a part of nearly every woman's life.

Connection, Empowerment, and Transformation

Mothers and Daughters

Women have, through choice and circumstance, changed what it means to be a mother today. No longer is there one clear and correct prescribed definition. As economic, social, cultural and political conditions evolve, women are revolutionizing concepts of mothering in a way unrecognizable short decades ago. In this unique collection, twenty-three women, teaching at colleges and universities throughout Canada, explore how traditional views of motherhood have been influenced by changing social and cultural conditions. Their essays unravel patriarchal constructions of motherhood and re-present new definitions drawn from women's lived experiences.

Changing Identities and Patterns

Redefining Motherhood

In 1976, Adrienne Rich wrote in Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution that ¿the cathexis between mother and daughter¿essential, distorted, misused¿is the great unwritten story.¿ In the quarter century since Rich wrote those words, the topic of mothers and daughters has emerged as a salient issue in feminist scholarship. Using women¿s writing, film, feminist theory, and personal experience, contributors to Mothers and Daughters explore how the mother/daughter relationship is represented and experienced as a site of empowerment. This volume will offer readers an important and welcome chapter in the story of the complex relationship that is a part of nearly every woman¿s life.

Sharon Abbey

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