The new issue of the Mothers
Movement Online is live at last! This edition offers expanded coverage of the MMO's central topic: the objectives and progress of the mothers'
movement in the United
States. New content includes a moving
essay by Gretchen Hunt on why Immigration is a Mother's Issue, a non-nonsense piece by Lisa Frack (of Portland, Oregon Activistas fame) on the mothers' movement's strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities,
and an informative article by social work professor Arthur Emlen on working mothers' need for flexibility in multiple
domains of daily life (Solving the Flexibility Puzzle). In my report and commentary,
Power in a Movement, I describe recent developments in the
middle-class "motherhood movement" and critique structural and conceptual
gaps in the movement's expression -- and the expression of the progressive
movement in general -- which are inconsistent with organizing mothers and
others for effective change work. (As I explain in my Editor's
Notes, I have a reputation in the mother's movement community as the person
most likely to pose irritating and uncomfortable questions about the movement's
organizational activities and goals. It's an unpopular job -- but someone's got
to do it.)
In the Essays
section, Kathleen Furin writes about
the "Hot Moms" movement. While it's something of a relief to discover
that moms are finally considered fuckable in the eyes of popular culture, Furin
asks whether claiming our right to pursue hotness is truly a liberating trend
for mothers, or simply adds a new twist to the culture of judgment and
self-doubt that mothers are already subjected to (MILF:
Is the Hot Moms Movement Really a Sign of Progress?). Also in Essays, returning
contributor Jampa Williams offers an
intensely personal account of the awakening of her
opposition to the war in Iraq.
Readers will also find short summaries of new resources on public policy, breastfeeding and the workplace; the real rate of economic insecurity among U.S. working families;
and gender disparities in American's reports of anxiety about
facing economic hardship (in Noteworthy).
There are also new listings for several upcoming conferences on the Get
Active page. Read and enjoy!
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