A woman's work : reclaiming the radical history of mothering / Elinor Cleghorn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cleghorn, Elinor, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motherhood--History.

Motherhood.

Mothers--Social conditions.

Mothers.

Women--Social conditions.

Women.

Physical Description:

405 pages ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Reclaiming the radical history of mothering

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, [2026]

Summary:

"Mothers make history. But what it has meant for mothers to do the physical and emotional work of mothering has, for centuries, been neglected in the stories of the past. Patriarchal control of motherhood has relegated the acts of growing, birthing, nurturing and loving to the sidelines, and deemed it unimportant, women's work. Now, through the voices of the women themselves, Elinor Cleghorn reclaims and retells the history of motherhood, showcasing the mothers, othermothers, midwives, activists, community leaders and more who have shaped the course of history. Beginning in the ancient world, we encounter a figurine made for a childbirth ritual over three-thousand years ago. We meet extraordinary writers and poets, like Anne Bradstreet and Elizabeth Jocelin, who were expressing their innermost feelings about motherhood. During the seventeenth century, in the streets of London we encounter unmarried mothers struggling against stigma and shame, and the women who strove to help them. Later, pioneers like Mary Wollstonecraft laid the intellectual foundations for the liberation of motherhood from male control, and the abhorrent treatment of enslaved mothers was brought to public attention by courageous activists like Sojourner Truth. These and many other brave characters lobbied for mothers of all classes and circumstances to be valued, respected, and supported--not as reproductive vessels, but as people. A Woman's Work is a powerful, inspiring, and ground-breaking new history"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part 1. Traces and rituals : ninth century BCE to fourth century CE

1. The hidden ones

2. What women knew

3. Bring it to birth

4. Blessed among women

Part 2. Faith and fortitude : ninth to sixteenth century

5. Fragile labors

6. Lying-in

7. Unnatural

Part 3. Care and conviction : seventeenth to eighteenth century

8. Tender regard

9. Quickening spirit

10. Want of care

Part 4. Resistance and reclamation : eighteenth century to present

11. Twist to a knot

12. None but a mother

13. Enlightened

14. Women's work

15. An intimate history

Conclusion: Mothering through it all.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version Cleghorn, Elinor Woman's work

ISBN:

9780593472705

0593472705

OCLC:

1525247355