Mothering, Sex and Sexuality: Conference at York U. challenges notion of ‘good’ mothers

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TORONTO, February 27, 2001 – York University’s Association for Research on Mothering (ARM) and the Centre for Feminist Research in celebration of International Women’s Day (March 8) are hosting a two-day Conference on Mothering, Sex and Sexuality to be held March 3 - 4, at York University.

The conference will bring together leading researchers from across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Puerto Rico who will challenge the widely held belief that mothers – at least good ones – are not sexual and that sexy women cannot be mothers.

"Sex and sexuality are indisputably important and integral issues in women's experiences of motherhood," says ARM Director Andrea O’Reilly, a Women’s Studies Professor at York. "Generally, though not exclusively, women become mothers through sex, and sexuality often shapes women's experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and mother-child intimacy. As well, maternity may change a woman's perception and expression of her sexual identity."

O’Reilly says the reasons for the desexualization of motherhood include a cultural view of sex as dirty, a religious tradition that celebrates chaste motherhood, and a socio-economic system that demands maternal self-sacrifice. "This opposition, often termed the whore/Madonna dichotomy, demands that women choose between these two dimensions and stipulates that the expression of one requires the repression of the other. The aim of this conference is to consider how the maternal and the sexual, fully and integratively expressed, shapes the way women live and understand their lives."

Anne Semans and Cathy Winks, co-authors of several books on women’s sexuality including The Mother’s Guide to Sex: Enjoying Your Sexuality Through All Stages of Motherhood (to be released May 2001), will deliver the keynote address: "Learning from the Mother’s Guide to Sex". Both authors live in San Francisco, where Semans works at libida.com, a women's sexuality e-commerce site, and Winks at a non-profit sperm bank. In the introduction to their forthcoming book, Semans and Winks write, "Although volumes have been written about motherhood and sex, the two subjects lie on parallel tracks that rarely intersect. Parenting books never explore how a mother can expect her sex life to be transformed by the demands of childrearing. Sex and relationship books for parents suggest tips "for keeping the flame alive" that depend on creating the illusion that you don’t have kids."

Among the conference papers and presentations:

  • Anthropological Perspectives on Breastfeeding and Sexuality: or why there are no black lace nursing bras – Penny Van Esterik (York University)

  • Breastfeeding and the Family Bed – Geraldine MacDonald (University of Toronto)

  • Lactation Erotics and Regulating the Mother-Child Intimacy Taboo – Fiona Giles (Sydney University, Australia)

  • The Cult Of Virginity In A Canadian-Italian Subculture: How Mothers Convey The Message To Their Daughters – Frances Talarico and Elana Hannah (Memorial University)

  • Outside the Law or Legal Outsiders: Lesbian Identity, Motherhood and Child Custody in Canada – Carolyn Rowe (Carleton University)

  • Sex and the Hip Mama – Ariel Gore (Oregon, founder of Hip Mama magazine)

  • The Whore/Madonna Dichotomy in Monique Mojica's Princess Pocahontas and the Blue Spots – Dannabang Kuwabong (University of Puerto Rico)

The Centre for Research on Mothering at York University houses the Association for Research on Mothering and the Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering. The Centre's mandate is to promote feminist maternal scholarship by building and sustaining a community of academic and grassroots researchers interested in the topic of mothering-motherhood.

The conference, which will culminate in the publication of selected papers in a future volume of the Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering, will be held on Saturday, March 3, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. (Registration opens Saturday, 8 a.m.) and Sunday, March 4, 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., in Room 152, Founders College, York University Campus, 4700 Keele Street.

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For the full conference agenda or more information, visit:  http://www.yorku.ca/crm, or contact:

Prof. Andrea O'Reilly
York Association for Research on Mothering
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 60366
arm@yorku.ca

Ken Turriff
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/020/01