Shall I Play Mother? A Response to Darren Rosenblum’s Unsex Mothering: Toward a Culture of New Parenting I. Bennett Capers[1] “Shall I play mother?” asks a campy old man in Peter Ackroyd’s Chatterton, a novel I read some years ago, using the phrase to determine who should serve tea.[2] It’s telling that the phrase has stuck with me all these years. And it’s telling that this phrase came to mind as I read Rosenblum’s Unsex ... continue reading...
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Unsex Mothering Responses: I. Glenn Cohen
The Science, Fiction, and Science Fiction of Unsex Mothering A Response to Darren Rosenblum’s Unsex Mothering: Toward a Culture of New Parenting I. Glenn Cohen[1] In her novel Woman on the Edge of Time, the Canadian Feminist writer Marge Piercy’s protagonist, Connie Ramos, incarcerated in a mental institution, time travels to a set of possible futures that reflect utopian and dystopian visions of social make-up.[2] Among other things, the more utopian possible future world ... continue reading...
Unsex Mothering Responses: Suzanne A. Kim
Heterosexed Parenting A Response to Darren Rosenblum’s Unsex Mothering: Toward a Culture of New Parenting By Suzanne A. Kim[1] I wholly agree with Darren Rosenblum that we must “unwind” the vexing knot of parenting and biological sex to achieve greater equality in the realms of work and family.[2] This approach comports with the laudable push toward functionalism that characterizes many areas of contemporary family law. I urge, however, that Unsex ... continue reading...
Unsex Mothering Responses: Naomi Mezey
What’s a Mother Once Unsexed? A Response to Darren Rosenblum’s Unsex Mothering: Toward a Culture of New Parenting Naomi Mezey[1] One can readily agree with Darren Rosenblum’s understanding of the problems of contemporary parenting—the (still!) dichotomous ideas about gender and the persistent assignment of domestic and market power according to sex that reinforces those ideas and hardens the default roles of mother and father—and yet wonder what unsexing does for ... continue reading...
Unsex Mothering Responses: Fernanda G. Nicola
“Unclass Mothering” A Response to Darren Rosenblum’s Unsex Mothering: Toward a Culture of New Parenting Fernanda G. Nicola[1] Darren Rosenblum’s Unsex Mothering: Toward a New Culture of Parenting[2] makes an important point, that the fluidity of parenting roles ought to be incorporated by international equality instruments like CEDAW, because this is no longer a problem of women, as the main parent in the family, but rather a problem that women and men should ... continue reading...