About Us
Who gets to be a good mother?
The State of Motherhood is a project created by Middlebury College students Mary Scott, Emma McKee, Nicole Goodman, Evan Killion, Keaton Smith, Casey Liley, April Qian, Sophie Hochman, and Charley Burlock for our Spring 2020 Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies course, “The Politics of Reproduction,” taught by Dr. Carly Thomsen.
In order to extend the influence of our course conversations, we were tasked with “translating” some of our course materials into a more accessible format that could travel beyond our classroom. Texts by feminist scholars, Angela Davis and Dorthy Roberts, form the backbone of our project. Throughout this website, we summarize their arguments on our “Translations” page and present their ideas in other novel ways, including quizzes, stories, and timelines.
After learning a lot this semester, we’re excited to share some of our findings. We hope that you learn more about who, according to the state,** really gets to be a legitimate mother.
**Keep in mind, “the state” does not just refer to elected representatives in Washington. Our culture, medical establishment, and economy all create and are created by governing bodies. When we say “the state” we are referring to this entire interconnected web, not just the fifty states that you may have had to memorize in middle school or their elected officials.