The Motherhood Business: Consumption, Communication, and Privilege PDF
Preview The Motherhood Business: Consumption, Communication, and Privilege
THE MOTHERHOOD BUSINESS Rhetoric, Culture, and Social Critique Series Editor John Louis Lucaites Editorial Board Jeffrey A. Bennett Barbara Biesecker Carole Blair Joshua Gunn Robert Hariman Debra Hawhee Claire Sisco King Steven Mailloux Raymie E. McKerrow Toby Miller Phaedra C. Pezzullo Austin Sarat Janet Staiger Barbie Zelizer THE MOTHERHOOD BUSINESS Consumption, Communication, and Privilege Edited by Anne Teresa Demo Jennifer L. Borda Charlotte Kroløkke THE U NIVERSITY OF ALA BAMA PR ESS Tuscaloosa The University of Ala bama Press Tuscaloosa, Ala bama 35487–0380 uapress.ua.edu Copyright © 2015 by the University of Ala bama Press All rights reserved Inquiries about reproducing material from this work should be addressed to the University of Ala bama Press Typeface: Bembo and Museo Sans Manufactured in the United States of America Cover photograph: Baby socks on clothesline with dollar bills; © Ginasanders | Dreamstime.com Cover design: Mary- Francis Burt ∞ The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1984 Cataloging- in-P ublication data is available from the Library of Congress ISBN: 978- 0- 8173- 1890- 1 E- ISBN: 978- 0- 8173- 8908- 6 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The motherhood business : consumption, communication, and privilege / edited by Anne Teresa Demo, Jennifer L. Borda, and Charlotte Krolokke. pages cm. — (Rhetoric, culture, and social critique) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8173-1890-1 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-8908-6 (ebook) 1. Motherhood—Economic aspects. 2. Mothers. 3. Consumption (Economics)— Social aspects. I. Demo, Anne Teresa, 1968– II. Borda, Jennifer L., 1973– III. Krolokke, Charlotte, 1965– . HQ759.M8734165 2015 306.874’3—dc23 0 1 5 0 1 3 7 8 6 2 We would like to dedicate this book to our mothers: Mary P. Demo, Patricia Borda, and Anna Marie Halmø Nielsen. We also gratefully acknowledge all who collaboratively mother their own children and the children of others, and, in doing so, empower us all. Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Reframing Motherhood: Factoring in Consumption and Privilege Anne Teresa Demo 1 1. The Golden Egg: The Business of Making Mothers through Egg Donation Charlotte Kroløkke 28 2. Race(ing) to the Baby Market: The Po liti cal Economy of Overcoming Infertility K. Animashaun Ducre 52 3. A Baby “Made in India”: Motherhood, Consumerism, and Privilege in Transnational Surrogacy Karen Hvidtfeldt Madsen 76 4. “We Were Introduced to Foods I Never Even Heard of”: Parents as Consumers on Reality Television Cynthia Gordon 95 5. Cultivating Community within the Commercial Marketplace: Blurred Boundaries in the “Mommy” Blogosphere Jennifer L. Borda 121 6. Mompreneurs: Homemade Organic Baby Food and the Commodification of Intensive Mothering Kara N. Dillard 1 51 7. Maternal Crime in a Cathedral of Consumption Sara Hayden 175 8. “Don’t Worry, Mama Will Fix It!”: Playing with the Mama Myth in Video Games Shira Chess 197 viii / Contents 9. Motherhood and the Necessity of Invention: The Possibilities of Play in a Culture of Consumption Christine Harold 216 10. Choosing to Consume: Race, Education, and the School Voucher Debate Lisa A. Flores 243 Suggested Readings 267 Contributors 271 Index 275 Acknowledgments The Motherhood Business was conceived in 2008 during a National Commu- nication Association (NCA) preconference. Since that time, the contribu- tors have collectively celebrated and offered one another generous support and patience through births, adoptions, relocations, promotions, diagnoses, and passings. As our authors transitioned through vari ous phases of their lives, this book project benefited from evolving insights, the addition of new contributors, and three NCA panel presentations, as well as many conversa- tions with generous colleagues who added more nuanced perspectives along the way. We also had the opportunity to incorporate the rapidly developing interdisciplinary literature into our project, as well as respond to the chal- lenging and enlightening recommendations of two anonymous reviewers, which we feel enriched the project tremendously. Academic labor not only bears the imprint of insights from colleagues who listen and read attentively but also (for parents) the aid of those who care for our children. The editors, in particular, would like to thank B radford Vivian, Erin Rand, Vanessa Beasely, Karma Chávez, Willem Verweij, the teachers at Live and Learn Early Learning Center, and Michael Warnock. We also are very grateful for the support of Dan Waterman, Vanessa Rusch, Jennifer M. Rogers, and the publishing team at the University of Ala bama Press. We would also like to thank the Danish Research Council for gener- ously granting us support towards the indexing of this book.
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