Mommy Angst

Book excerpt: This revealing work looks at representations of motherhood from a wide range of pop culture sources to explore larger questions about the image and self-image of mothers in the United States. How has the popularity of Gilmore Girls influenced perspectives on teenage pregnancies? How did the mother-in-law assume such monstrous proportions? Did the Republicans' view of motherhood—and their continual hectoring of Hillary Clinton for putting ambition ahead of family—cost them the 2008 election? Mommy Angst: Motherhood in American Popular Culture considers questions like these as it probes our country's views on mothers, and how those views shape—and are shaped by—the habitually oversimplified portrayals of mothers in pop culture, politics, and the media. Mommy Angst gets at the heart of America's anxious ambivalence toward mothers—whether sanctifying them, vilifying them, or praising the ideal of motherhood while thoroughly undervaluing the complexities of their lives and their contributions to family and society. To highlight the many sides of motherhood, the collection contrasts the lives of a diverse range of real moms with their pop culture representations, including Jewish mothers, Cuban mothers, teenage mothers, mothers with disabilities, working versus stay-at-home moms, and more.