Mamalicious!

This is a first. I actually have a tiny backlog of things I want to blog about. It’ll be a minute before I can get to them, though. However, a little quickie presented itself, and I decided to do a drive-by post of it.

A friend and neighbor of mine is part of a cyberfeminist collective (political performance art, etc.) [1], and she is posing questions related to motherhood to people Stateside and to those she will meet during her upcoming international travels. She’s asked me to chew on the following and answer either via email or over the phone. I’m used to being the interviewer not the interviewee! But I think I’ll take a crack at it…

What year were you born?

How might your Mother’s life turn out differently if she had given birth to you in 2008?

Do you think there is another part of the world where it is easier or better to be a mother than the place you currently live?

What is the most unusual example of Motherhood or Mothering you have witnessed or experienced?

What do you feel is the role of biotechnology in contemporary motherhood?

What do you feel is the role of other technologies (Internet, surveillance, medical devices, etc) in contemporary motherhood?

Do you think motherhood should be restricted to women or heterosexuals? (why or why not?)

In what ways should society intervene MORE into motherhood?

In what ways should society intervene LESS?

What are your feelings about surrogate mothers?

What are your feelings about soldiers who are mothers?

Should male or female soldiers have any restrictions placed on their sexuality or fertility?

What political power do mothers as a group hold?

Do you think mothers are entitled to certain rights that they do not currently enjoy?

Are you a mother? Do you want to become a mother? Why? Why not?

How would you describe feminist motherhood, fatherhood, or childrearing?

In what ways do you think motherhood, fatherhood, or childhood have been commodified?

Do you have any ideas about how teaching or organizing could to lead to better treatment of mothers and children and indeed all people?

Is the nuclear family structure obsolete?

What are your feelings about adoption, particularly about interracial, intercultural or international adoption?

Anything you’d like to add?

[1] I inquired and confirmed that this research project isn’t top-secret, so here’s a bit more info about my friend’s collective: 

subRosa’s  name honors feminist pioneers in art, activism, labor, science, and politics: Rosa Bonheur, Rosa Luxemburg, Rosie the Riveter, Rosa Parks and Rosie Franklin.

subRosa is a reproducible cyberfeminist cell of cultural researchers committed to combining art, activism, and politics to explore and critique the effects of the intersections of the new information and biotechnologies on women’s bodies, lives, and work.

subRosa produces artworks, activist campaigns and projects, publications, media interventions, and public forums that make visible the effects of the interconnections of technology, gender, and difference; feminism and global capital; new bio and medical technologies and women’s health; and the changed conditions of labor and reproduction for women in the integrated circuit.

subRosa practices a situational embodied feminist politics nourished by conviviality, self-determination, and the desire for affirmative alliances and coalitions.

~

Check out select chapters from subRosa’s book Domain Errors: Cyberfeminist Practices!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 19th, 2008 at 9:19 am and is filed under Cool Stuff, Double-X, Friends, Mama-hood, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.