Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (JMI - York University)
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Understanding Obstetric Violence as Violence against Mothers through the Lens of Matricentric Feminism
Get PDFObstetric violence—that is, the mistreatment or abuse of pregnant, birthing, or postpartum individuals by their maternity care providers, institutions, or systems—is a topic of growing concern around the globe among healthcare organizations, healthcare providers, birthing people, and advocates. As research and advocacy work has begun to denormalize and problematize obstetric violence, it has been framed as a distinct type of institutionalized gendered violence that violates the rights of women. This article approaches the topic of obstetric violence through the lens of matricentric feminism and theorizes how it constitutes not only violence against women (typically) but also violence against mothers. Using examples from my personal experience and recent project, I employ matricentric feminism to emphasize the unique discourses of good and bad motherhood that birthing people engage with and suggest that in the context of obstetric violence, motherhood can be weaponized to perpetuate the invisibility of and silence around this issue. I discuss the implications for an understanding of obstetric violence as violence against mothers, including how these implications may impact efforts to recognize and prevent obstetric violence
The Gift: Matricentric Feminism, Physiological Mothering, and Art Practice
Get PDFIn this article, I explain how the specific politics of mothering shaped my understanding and approach to feminism and how I engage with these ideas in my art practice. I discuss two of my artworks and outline how these works function as tangible realizations of matricentric feminist concepts, specifically the invisibility and disparagement of motherwork and the mother-baby dyad. I suggest how the specific use of the ceramic material creates layered meanings and how my artworks function as concrete objects that speak about intangible ideas. In addition to this, I examine my mother’s mothering practice and how she and my father unintentionally raised their children in a matricentric feminist manner. I contend that growing up in a family that respected, protected, and supported the mother-baby dyad laid the groundwork for me to achieve empowered mothering. I extend this analysis to my own marriage and assert that the re-establishing of subjectivity necessitated by physiological mothering practices is beneficial to the entire family unit. Physiological mothering practices bolstered by matricentric feminism create a space for the renegotiating and dismantling of traditionally gendered roles within the family. I argue that by centring matricentric feminism in social discourse, this dismantling of patriarchal structures can extend throughout society
Placenta, the Sculpture, and the Invisible Blood of Women
Get PDFPlacenta is a giant, soft model of a human placenta, made from knitted sections of fabric pieced together around a free-standing frame. It was knitted by women out of hand-dyed yarn made from discarded t-shirts. The #placentaproject drew together a team of women (and a handful of men) who believed that it was a socially useful thing to create and exhibit a giant human placenta in order to enliven the amount of public conversation and understanding of the bodily work of women. The work of the sculpting process used a domestic craft as an act of protest—a monument to the unpaid and uncounted labour of women. This article describes the narrative of the process of the sculpting work and explores personal themes about the invisibility of women’s reproductive blood, both in health and in society itself. It also describes the anatomic and physiological learning that took place in the process of sculpting and exhibiting the work, which led to a more deeply felt awe at the work of women that often goes unnoticed. Placenta is on tour around Australia and was recently exhibited at the Australian Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement Conference, held in Sydney, in July 2019
A Gun Took My Child
Get PDFThe death of a child to gun violence is a particularly devastating loss. The reactions of mothers to this loss, described here, indicate how their experience engenders extreme distress and produces symptoms of psychological trauma. The impact of child loss is intensified for mothers due to the guilt that many feel for having failed to protect their child. Ways of healing from this trauma and the usefulness of mother-centred approaches to recovery are described, and they demonstrate that matricentric feminism is especially valuable in helping mothers move forward in their lives. Although these healing practices do not cite matricentric feminism as their source, it is clear from the descriptions of healing presented by the mothers here that they use matrifocal narratives for healing purposes; they use them as a space to speak about not only the loss of their child but also the loss of identity as competent mothers as well as their despair over never seeing their child move into the future. Matricentric feminism, therefore, can contribute a great deal to understanding and supporting mothers as they struggle to heal