Interrogating Motherhood

by Jasodhara Bagchi

"Interrogating Motherhood, the fourth title in the Theorizing Feminism Series, reveals that an understanding of motherhood is vitally important to understanding Indian society. The ideas and practice of motherhood changed once India became a part of a global capitalist system; from the colonial period to present-day market-driven globalization.

Analyses the complexities between motherhood and mothering (where the concepts are glorified but the women remain subordinate). This book explores Indian and Western feminists’ insights; examines the significance of mother goddesses; discusses regulations on motherhood in the wake of nation-building; and reveals the vulnerability of motherhood to the coercion of invasive technology and pressures of patriarchy where a woman must not only be a mother but also the mother of a son."

Genres: India, Nonfiction

140 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Rajashree Chowdhury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought Sharing what I read might be giving many mixed messages to people. But if I don't share what I read, it would be a great loss for me as my very limited knowledge would become more limited.
Here is the first book on motherhood that I had chosen to read. This book would give it's readers a glimpse of some of the major discourses on the study of motherhood. Bagchi tries to cover various themes and time periods and look critically at the concept of motherhood and it's emergence within patriarchy and how it has been effecting women over the ages. The easy language and it's simple framework helps one to easily grasp the arguments made on this book.
Although I had some issues, I would definitely read all the books under this series by Sage, Theorising Feminism.