Each year the Museum of Motherhood (MOM) welcomes interns from a variety of disciplines. Each internship seeks to balance individual goals and needs with those of the museum’s. Study labs, online courses, individual projects, visual displays, research, and guest docent opportunities are just a few of the ways MOM has worked with university and graduate students since 2011. Onsite and remote internships are available for the 2017 academic year. Write Director, M. Joy Rose, 538 28th St. N. St. Petersburg: info@mommuseum.org
Seeking students for extra credit lab-work with the Museum of Motherhood for six weeks, beginning October 2017. MOM is launching a new online course called Introduction to Mother Studies. This is an introduction to mothers, mothering, and motherhood through a critical lens. The class uses articles, statistics, film, media, and literature to examine the perceptions, experiences, and identity of mothers. The goal of the course is to offer students insight into evolving notions of family, while sharing a multitude of perspectives. We analyze and explore motherhood in the private as well as the social sphere where mothering is performed.
Time commitment approximately 3-4 hours per week for six weeks, October 1 – November 12, 2017.
Exit survey completion and final report
Participants will be invited to share their class perspectives and final projects at the annual academic MOM Conference in St. Pete/Tampa, February 15-17, 2017.
Seeking self-designed internships at the Museum of Motherhood in St. Petersburg, Florida. Students bring their passion and perspective to an individualized study program focused on mothers, fathers, and families. Create a community outreach project, launch a museum display, or conduct research on a specific topic or category. Business students and those interested in the non-profit sector also welcome.
Time commitment is flexible. Students have worked between 4-10 hours per week.
Remote or onsite opportunities available
Participants will be invited to share their projects at the annual academic MOM Conference in St. Pete/Tampa, February 15-17, 2017.
“….the rules of motherhood are being radically rewritten–with a snarl, cymbal crash and power E-chord that would make the lads in AC/DC stand and salute.” –USA Today
During the years that M.O.M operated out of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, posters adorned each of the 2,500 square space’s pillars. These posters focused on quirky and sometimes tragic facts spanning ten centuries of childbirth. One of the most curious posters, and the one that most often elicited conversation from students was the photo and description of the foundling wheel of The Ospedale degli Innocenti in Italy.
Interior courtyard of Ospedale degli Innocenti
This hospital, cum orphanage, history tells us, was an experiment in social welfare and public health fifteenth century-style.
Completed in 1445, the institution received its first abandoned infant ten days later. What the text books tell us differs a great deal from what research anthropologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy discovered and wrote in her provocative book Mother Nature. While I am not at my desk as I write this blog (travels continue to take me through Italy and the surrounding regions), my memory of her book and scholar Jocelyn Fenton Stitt’s 2014 online MSU course on Motherhood Studies stands out. Challenging romanticized notions of caring mothers fawning over their newborns, the foundling hospital tells a different story.
Artifacts left behind along with abandoned newborns were catalogued & curated
Of all the places on our scheduled visit through Italy this summer, this was the destination I was most excited about. According to Hrdy, hundreds of thousands of abandoned newborns died behind these walls, victims of illness, starvation, and a vast population of women, who through circumstance for a great number of reasons were unable to care for their infants. Challenging the assumption that all mothers can or will care for their babies, most of these children born illigitimately, during times of social unrest, during plagues, amidst starvation, and for so many other complex and wide-ranging reasons, were abandoned in the middle of the night and left to fate.
The hospital was envisioned as a charitable institution six hundred years ago and continues to operate as a museum and advocate for youth through various programs. The museum today tells the story of its abandoned children through artifacts left along with the newborns who had to be tiny enough to squeeze through the grated entrance, pictured below.
The author, M. Joy Rose pictured in front of the foundling wheel gate
Once abandoned, a bell would ring, awakening attendants who would then feed and care for the children. For many reasons, Hrdy tells us, the vast majority of these stories end in death. There simply was no baby formula available (it wasn’t invented until the middle 1800s), and there were not enough wet nurses to go around.
The notion of abandoning a newborn, while repugnant to most, is actually evidence for the ongoing argument that women need to be able to choose when and if they will get pregnant and give birth. Baby boxes and other legitimate contemporary options continue to be available to mothers unwilling or unable to care for their newborns in the U.S. and around the world. The Ospedale degli Innocenti stands as testimate to the social history and personal stories of countless children and their families.
Wet nurses hired to feed and care for the babies
Join me by checking in at my personal blog as I spend the next several weeks traveling Europe ~ MOM Founder, Director, M. Joy Rose
Here at M.O.M., residencies offer an opportunity for an intensive focus on your writing, art, research, or special project. M.O.M. accepts one residency per time period and we are pleased to announce our first opportunity beginning January 1st, for two weeks, with artist, performer, and academic Christen Clifford. Find out more about the requirements to participate here and access our online calendar.
The M.O.M. Art Annex Residency Program is currently open to students, artists, and scholars engaged in the study of women, mothers, fathers, and families. This live/work space in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg, Fl is an opportunity for those wishing to focus for an extended period of time on research, writing, or art-making in a quiet setting, close to amenities, in a supportive environment. If the residency doesn’t work for you, but you want to visit, then you can plan a trip on AirBnB as well [Link].
Christen Clifford, a feminist writer, feminist performance artist, curator, professor, actor, and mother artist whose performances and writing use her experiences of maternal sexuality, menstruation, rape, and the female body as material, is launching a new project called Pussy Bow.
The Pussy Bow is silky blouse with a long, floppy bow attached to the neck. Currently a popular fashion item, Clifford reimagines it as a feminist action disguised as a fashion accessory. Hers is real pussy bow, printed with images of her own pussy.
Last September, as part of a performance hosted by the dance group AUNTS at New York’s Ace Hotel, Clifford used the wireless internal-camera vibrator Siime Eye to broadcast photos directly onto the walls of the hotel (and to remote viewers through Periscope) from inside her vagina. She took these images and created a pattern that she then printed onto silk and fashioned into a long, thin, stylish scarf. Clifford will donate 10% of each Pussy Bow purchase to Planned Parenthood.
The Huffington Post writes, “there’s an entirely new way to wear genitals,” and Style Mic proclaims the Pussy Bow is “making waves,” and “capping off the biggest fashion trend of 2015.” The Daily Dot lists ideal Pussy Bow models: “Donald Trump. Also: Michelle Obama, Lena Dunham, Cecile Richards [President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.] Anyone who loves pussy, anyone who loves equality and style.”
We will be updating you as the new Art Annex continues its mission in the new year.
Christen Clifford Live Performance
Featured image on homepage by http://www.anyaliftig.com/
The M.O.M. Museum Art Annex is poised to open its doors on January 1, 2017. The new hours are by appointment only. You must call ahead or e-mail: PH: 207.504.3001/MOMmuseum@gmail.com. Visitors may also opt to “Spend A Night At The Museum,” Thurs-Sat. More info coming on Air B & B.
Our new Live/Work space is pioneered by M. Joy Rose. Over the last year or two, an explosion in mother-making-art has taken place across England and America. Most recently, The Mother House (a summer experiment by Dyana Gravina and the Procreate Project, Nicola Smith and We Are Resident, as well as others, have inspired and connected art, motherhood, and the greater cultural community.
In 2016 a presentation by Sarah Black called “Mother As Curator” at the Annual Academic M.O.M. Conference described her home environment as a video, art, installation, and inter-generational family experience. Her treatise declared that as an artist, she “blurs the boundaries of art, and the personal, family and audience, narrative and auto-biographic practices.” She states that as a “performance maker, she explores the home as both a physical and a metaphysical structure to house the work.” In this way, spaces are informed and co-created by those who participate in its interiors, but similarly, its interiors also hold a template for studying the things it contains from a distance.
As part of The Arts Enclave of Historic Kenwood, in the city of St. Petersburg, this new location aspires to be several things: an ongoing place to study motherhood, fatherhood, and family; an arts annex, preserving and interpreting objects for public consumption; a place of learning; a place to gather; and mostly, a template for all the possibilities to come, as M.O.M. continues to grow and thrive. (read more below slide show)
M. Joy Rose holds a BFA in Theater and a Master of Liberal Studies in Women’s and Gender Studies with a focus on Mother Studies. She is a musician, concert promoter, museum founder, and fine artist. Her work has been published across blogs and academic journals, and she has performed with her band Housewives On Prozac on Good Morning America, CNN, and the Oakland Art & Soul Festival to name a few. She is the NOW-NYC recipient of the Susan B. Anthony Award, her Mamapalooza Festival Series has been recognized as “Best in Girl-Power Events” in New York, and her music has appeared on the Billboard Top 100 Dance Charts.
CFP – Mothering From The Margins Conference; St. Petersburg, FLA
10-11 February 2017
How can mothers, fathers, daughters, sons and caregivers SPEAK UP, SPEAK OUT, and perform with FEROCITY?
Calling all social scientists, women’s, sexuality, and gender scholars, masculinity studies scholars, motherhood and fatherhood scholars, artists, performers, and those interested in caregiving and motherwork more generally for a creative and critical dialogue around the concept of “mothering from the margins.” How can our research, activism, and art make a difference?
Each individual and family engages in care practices from a specific social location, made up of a multitude of intersecting and co-constituting identities that are accompanied by significant privileges and oppressions. For many, motherwork takes place from the margins of society, where individuals and kin networks that do not conform to dominant family structures find themselves. We aim to consider the experiences of oppression, the possibilities for empowerment, and the impacts on individuals, families, and children when people mother from the margins. Of special interest are the following topics: LGBTQ+, queer, and alternative kinship structures; teen and young adult parents; racial minority and multiracial families; transnational caregiving and undocumented families; motherwork from and within marginalized faith communities; adoptive, blended, and multi-household families; caring for or as differently-abled or neuro-atypical; single mothers; low-income mothers and families using public assistance; conceiving and parenting after miscarriage or child death; and negotiating in/fertility; as well as those who do not identify with normative-retro-patriarchal versions of mothering and caregiving.
We welcome submissions from scholars, students, activists, artists, community agencies, service providers, journalists, mothers, and others who work or research in this area. Cross-cultural, historical, and comparative work is encouraged. We also encourage a variety of types of submissions including individual academic papers from all disciplines, proposals for panels, creative submissions, performances, storytelling, visual arts, film, music, audio, and other alternative formats.
All participants are encouraged to submit their presentation, post-conference for publication in the Journal of Mother Studies (JourMS), in August of 2017. See more at JourMS.org
Manju is a mother of two and a feminist. Throughout our conversation, Manju discussed patriarchy through her feminist lens and expressed her views and anger about various social problems and practices. I am unsure why she did not share any of her personal experiences. Manju started the conversation by discussing how many rituals in Indian marriage were meant primarily for women. “The idea of wearing wedding string (Mangala sutra) after marriage is an ultimate reminder of the importance of chastity in a patriarchal society,” says Manju. “After coming to the USA I was not comfortable wearing a heavy Mangala sutra and but my in-laws wouldn’t let me remove it, so I had to switch to a lighter one instead.” She went on talking about how Karva-Chauth, a Hindu festival where married women fast for the health and longevity of their husbands. “Karva-Chauth is nothing but a reflection of a patriarchal mindset of Indian society.” With a burst of laughter, she added: “I wish men had some ritual during our postpartum where there would do all chores and pray for our wellness and health.” I was able to sense a hidden anger behind her laughter. It made me think how even if we give it a modern look by letting the husband fast along with the wife — but there’s no way one can wish away these ritual’s inherent misogyny. These simple routines build an utterly expendable divine halo around the husband and show the society and women that her place is at her husband’s feet. The man becomes the protector of her womanhood, her purity. It is well-known fact that the Indian society using patriarchy begins to install inferior feeling in its women at a very young age: in the name of culture, superstition, discrimination and festivals. Those who choose not to follow are looked down upon as angry feminists, toxic for the society.
Manju also discussed her thoughts about marriage “Marriage should be a bond of love, equality, companionship and mutual respect. Marriage should not be used as an instrument to carry out patriarchal rituals to oppress women.” I totally agree with her view and feel that a tradition which urges women to worship men is no less than graphic violence. Manju explained the sufferings of her career-oriented female friend who refused to marry “her relatives questioned her about her chastity. I don’t know how marriage would make women pure.” I felt that this reaction of the society is utterly predictable given that all women in the patriarchal social setting are immediately seized upon as “evil women” when they refuse to marry, opt out of motherhood or even if the husband dies. Manju went on explaining the irony of how feminism in a patriarchal society is what shunned the feminine virtues of chastity and modesty and it is what enable men to look upon women as sexual objects “As women are becoming more and more qualified they all become prey to people’s eyes and comments.” Patriarchy is where female sexuality is most highly cherished and protected. Ideally, women should feel safe in a patriarchal society. Instead, it allows men to view women as “public property” and to be openly celebrated over by people in general social settings. There are some of the things that stayed with me even after leaving Manju’s house. I felt heavy at heart after the conversation. It’s hard to explain the feeling. We weren’t able to smile when we said bye. We both felt that there is more to talk and to do.
About the artwork: Inspired by the epic Ramayana where Sita was forced to prove her purity by undergoing a fire ordeal.
About the author: Pavithra Viswanath
Pavithra is pursuing Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, with a specialization in Maternal Mental Health. She is passionate about understanding critical issues within social justice movements for women, and its relationship to the modern society. She is always drawn to the narratives and experiences of women related to these issues. She believes that there is pressing need to explore the status of a woman as a mother from various dimensions such as economic status, religion, culture, and society pressure in developing countries like India. She is also in the process of completing her ‘Sexuality Women and Gender certification’. During this fall she will be interning as a Sexual assault advocate at SAKHI for South Asian Women, New York. In her free time, Pavithra enjoys cuddling with her 3-year-old daughter, reading her favorite Tamil literature or listening to music. (Keep reading below: Pavithra’s essay Modern Day Patriarchy: Experiences of Indian Mothers).
Read Pavithra Viswanath’s previous postings here #1 [LINK], #2 [LINK}. #3 [LINK]. Pavithra is a digital media intern at M.O.M.
This week I interviewed Aarthi, a mother of two kids. We started our conversation by watching an Indian commercial ‘Ariel – #ShareTheLoad,’ which is about patriarchy and gender roles. After watching the ad film Aarthi bursted with emotion — “It’s so much true! My life is full of it. In my next birth, I want to be born as a boy.” She poured her heart out. I was just listening and it wasn’t even necessary for me to probe her with questions. Her words reflected her deep emotional disturbance and distress as she spoke. She continued talking about her childhood days. She recalled her childhood memories — “My father was never happy with me. For him, his son was his world. Even now it is. I was always an extra burden to him.” She expressed how challenging it was for her being a girl and an average performer in academics amidst her family of well-qualified doctors. She felt her thoughts were not heard — “He payed no attention to what I said even for a single moment. I was never allowed to express myself. If I did, I was silenced.”
Girls are expected to be exceptionally obedient. Obedience is used in exchange for love and care from parents. Aarthi spoke about how her father’s views demotivated her — “l was always a bit doubtful of myself. I thought that I was not good enough for anything.” I could see from her eyes the impact it made in her life. In patriarchy, a woman’s life is defined through constructed ideas, concepts, and myths denying her even basic rights, thought and expression. Her conscious and subconscious minds are conditioned to see the world around only in the way the society would like her to see.
Aarthi expressed her state of confusion on ways to support her daughter in not accepting those same limitations she had — “The only thing I am good at is being a mother—I think.” At the same time, she also expressed how difficult it is to be disloyal to her elders and consequently, the patriarch within herself. “I am not able to figure out what to answer to tell my daughter when she has questions about our cultural practices; like not to pray when having menstrual cycle or not to wear short dress, not to sit in front of men. I don’t have real answers. I still do it without having reasons. I can’t help myself having strong opinions about it.”
Throughout our conversation Aarthi kept talking a lot her relationship with her father. “Right after my marriage, my father gave all my certificates to my in-laws and said I am their property now.” Aarthi expressed her anger in the way she was treated, and her helplessness about never questioning this. It was then I realized how we rarely talk about the way in which fatherhood, particularly in terms of a father-daughter relationship — how this relationship is in many represents a patriarchal struggle. She expressed how her family ascribes to the often “father knows the best” model of parenting even though her mother is a successful doctor. Talking about her financial security, Aarthi with humor stated — “According to my parents and in-laws, this is my husband’s home since I am not working, and I don’t belong to my parents home because I am married. So, I suppose I am almost homeless.”
While talking about her mother Aarthi told — “she wanted me to be everything that she was not— a stay-at-home mom; cook, take care of family and relatives, and I tuned myself to that idea.” Sometimes, a daughter’s sympathy for mother’s plight makes her see her mother’s pain as her own. This sympathy directly prevents her ability to flourish in her own life. Thus, in this way, the mother/daughter bond is forged in an environment that keeps both stuck. Yet Aarthi is a woman of clarity and courage. She is all set to move forward with purpose and determination. “I am going to chase my dream, learn something. and help others” says Aarthi.
Women are given the crown of being the ‘ruler’ at home, which has a very functional basis. They are often captivated by the patriarchal system that sets imaginary limits on their dreams. Patriarchal power subjugates women in a multitude of ways (through force, customs, tradition, language, and laws). This system of power has permeated everything around us. Aarthi’s life experiences and the hurdles she has faced are just samples of traditional patriarchy. The world around us is changing, possibly making space for women. But the question — ‘Are families in the traditional societies open to accommodate these changing gender roles?’ still remains. With women stepping out to chase their dreams and rewriting their experiences, patriarchy is a losing battle today!
About the author: Pavithra Viswanath
Pavithra is pursuing Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, with a specialization in Maternal Mental Health. She is passionate about understanding critical issues within social justice movements for women, and its relationship to the modern society. She is always drawn to the narratives and experiences of women related to these issues. She believes that there is pressing need to explore the status of a woman as a mother from various dimensions such as economic status, religion, culture, and society pressure in developing countries like India. She is also in the process of completing her ‘Sexuality Women and Gender certification’. During this fall she will be interning as a Sexual assault advocate at SAKHI for South Asian Women, New York. In her free time, Pavithra enjoys cuddling with her 3-year-old daughter, reading her favorite Tamil literature or listening to music. (Keep reading below: Pavithra’s essay Modern Day Patriarchy: Experiences of Indian Mothers).
Read Pavithra Viswanath’s previous postings here #1 [LINK], #2 [LINK}. Pavithra is a digital media intern at M.O.M.
The art work is inspired by Warli paintings of India.
On a sunny afternoon, with her 2 year old son napping beside her Preethi and I sat to chat about Patriarchy and her life experiences. Preethi lives with her husband and two kids in New York. She has been living here for the past 15 years and calls New York her second home. Preethi was very happy to revisit her childhood — “ Its nice to talk about things back at home, it brings back lots of memories.” She recalled her thoughts with all smiles — “I consider myself very fortunate to have grown up in a family. Even though, we were poor, they let me study just like my brother.” She also discussed how her parents expectations were different for her and her brother — “my mother constantly used to remind me that I will be going to another home after marriage so I should learn to do all household chores and so that I will be respected by my in-laws.” At an early age, girls were asked to learn household chores especially cooking and were expected to be gentle in whatever they did. She mentioned “I loved to run and jump around, but it was not allowed. There were lot other restrictions such as not going out after 6.00 P.M, not to talk to men, look at the ground and walk. The usual rules!” These restrictions are common in India, I am sure many Indian women will resonate with this thought. Associating femininity with subordination and self-restraint is almost natural. Thus, experiencing gendered restrictions and expectations were not only accepted, but also expected parts of being a girl. Families often place a great deal of importance on how to rear a girl with only goal of preparing her for marriage.
Speaking about her marriage, Preethi expressed her difficulties in managing the transition in family practices. “I was completely lost, I almost felt like being pulled by different people in various directions– lots of pressure from all the sides. It was nothing like I imagined. Only after coming here to USA was I able to breathe.” Marriages are the most important ritual in Indian tradition; family elders mostly arrange them. Passing respect and responsibility onto next generation becomes the mantra for married women. Preethi became emotional on how as a mother she might be passing along traditional belief to her daughter and how yearns to turn things around — “I wish things were different for my daughter, but it is not. I can’t go and change others and make things better so I want her to be prepared, to learn everything and study hard. I want her to be able to manage and be independent after marriage.” Even in the modern era, there is a cultural pressure to maintain these aspects of the traditional female identity. Not adhering to these expectations often translates into perceived failure and dishonor to the family. Gendered expectations are influenced by culture even for those residing outside of India. Preethi also strongly believes that the stress of the patriarchy can be reduced when women become financially independent. She is very positive and hopeful that this might be the case for the future generations
As I started writing this article, I remembered my own childhood — My mother talking to me and I wonder — “Was she happy or was she angry about the society, the system like I do today? Was she enchanted by dreams about my future?” I suddenly I realize how silly I have been. I have grown up to be just like my mother. Everything seems to be exactly the same — I am none other. I am my mother. I am realizing the ways mothers pass a part of themselves unconsciously to their daughters. Yet, today, especially in America, we are responsible for their ability to flourish as empowered women. “Dear daughter, I wish I could make things better for you. I will try!” I am trying!
Read Pavithra Viswanath’s previous story here[LINK]. Pavithra is a digital media intern at M.O.M.
About the author: Pavithra Viswanath
Pavithra is pursuing Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, with a specialization in Maternal Mental Health. She is passionate about understanding critical issues within social justice movements for women, and its relationship to the modern society. She is always drawn to the narratives and experiences of women related to these issues. She believes that there is pressing need to explore the status of a woman as a mother from various dimensions such as economic status, religion, culture, and society pressure in developing countries like India. She is also in the process of completing her ‘Sexuality Women and Gender certification’. During this fall she will be interning as a Sexual assault advocate at SAKHI for South Asian Women, New York. In her free time, Pavithra enjoys cuddling with her 3-year-old daughter, reading her favorite Tamil literature or listening to music. (Keep reading below: Pavithra’s essay Modern Day Patriarchy: Experiences of Indian Mothers).
We are so pleased to introduce our newest digital media intern, Pavithra Viswanath.
Pavithra is pursuing Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, with a specialization in Maternal Mental Health. She is passionate about understanding critical issues within social justice movements for women, and its relationship to the modern society. She is always drawn to the narratives and experiences of women related to these issues. She believes that there is pressing need to explore the status of a woman as a mother from various dimensions such as economic status, religion, culture, and society pressure in developing countries like India. She is also in the process of completing her ‘Sexuality Women and Gender certification’. During this fall she will be interning as a Sexual assault advocate at SAKHI for South Asian Women, New York. In her free time, Pavithra enjoys cuddling with her 3-year-old daughter, reading her favorite Tamil literature or listening to music. (Keep reading below: Pavithra’s essay Modern Day Patriarchy: Experiences of Indian Mothers).
Modern Day Patriarchy: Experiences of Indian Mothers
By Pavithra Viswanath
It is difficult to overlook so many years of history when dealing with the state of women and culture. The horrified memories of sati (an obsolete Hindu funeral custom where a widow immolated herself on her husband’s pyre) still linger deep inside each one of us. Women are often compared to the goddess ‘Shakthi’ who is believed to be the embodiment of ultimate power. Perhaps, this notion of uncontrollable power invites the fear on women. I think this fear on women’s power created the social and moral structures to impose controls on them in the name of patriarchy.
In traditional societies like India, a woman is treated like a commodity and transferred from her father to her husband as an exchange through marriage. This marriage institution has helped to maintain social cohesion, social order and status quo in patriarchal power structures. Also, the marriage is presented as the pinnacle of a woman’s achievement. The cultural identity of a married women then becomes all about being a wife, a mother, a subordinate to her husband and his family. It doesn’t stop there. She has to forbear morals, obedience, chastise, cultural traditions and family unity and finally pass the same to her daughters. Thus, mothers unconsciously or consciously play an important role in the creation of gender differences and become a carrier of patriarchy. In the modern day the benevolent patriarchy that is imposed on women has not vanished entirely but only a shade different. The fact that women have accepted and internalized the patriarchal notions does not relieve them from the burdens of patriarchy. It just opens up more choices for the system to subordinate them. This interview series is an attempt to unravel the hidden stories behind the sustenance of patriarchy. It explores the roles of mothers, their beliefs, views and experiences of conflicts that are generated from patriarchal family ideologies.
Watch out for my interview with an Indian mom every week. Through these interviews, I will be sharing my learnings with an art work inspired from the interview and associated Indian culture.
