The Motherhood Business: Consumption, Communication, and Privilege

301 Pages·2015·4.03 MB·English

by  Anne Teresa Demo

THE
MOTHERHOOD
BUSINESS
Rhetoric, Culture, and Social Critique
Series Editor
John Louis Lucaites
Editorial Board
Jeffrey A. Bennett
Barbara Biesecker
Carole Blair
Joshua Gunn
Robert Hariman
Debra Hawhee
Claire Sisco King
Steven Mailloux
Raymie E. McKerrow
Toby Miller
Phaedra C. Pezzullo
Austin Sarat
Janet Staiger
Barbie Zelizer
THE
MOTHERHOOD
BUSINESS
Consumption, Communication, and Privilege
Edited by
Anne Teresa Demo
Jennifer L. Borda
Charlotte Kroløkke
THE U NIVERSITY OF ALA BAMA PR ESS
Tuscaloosa
The University of Ala bama Press
Tuscaloosa, Ala bama 35487–0380
uapress.ua.edu
Copyright © 2015 by the University of Ala bama Press
All rights reserved
Inquiries about reproducing material from this work should be addressed to the
University of Ala bama Press
Typeface: Bembo and Museo Sans
Manufactured in the United States of America
Cover photograph: Baby socks on clothesline with dollar bills; © Ginasanders |
Dreamstime.com
Cover design: Mary- Francis Burt
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1984
Cataloging- in-P ublication data is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN: 978- 0- 8173- 1890- 1
E- ISBN: 978- 0- 8173- 8908- 6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The motherhood business : consumption, communication, and privilege / edited by
Anne Teresa Demo, Jennifer L. Borda, and Charlotte Krolokke.
pages cm. — (Rhetoric, culture, and social critique)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8173-1890-1 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-8908-6 (ebook)
1. Motherhood—Economic aspects. 2. Mothers. 3. Consumption (Economics)—
Social aspects. I. Demo, Anne Teresa, 1968– II. Borda, Jennifer L., 1973– III. Krolokke,
Charlotte, 1965– .
HQ759.M8734165 2015
306.874’3—dc23
0 1 5 0 1 3 7 8 6 2
We would like to dedicate this book to our mothers:
Mary P. Demo, Patricia Borda, and Anna Marie Halmø Nielsen.

We also gratefully acknowledge all who collaboratively mother
their own children and the children of others, and,
in doing so, empower us all.

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Reframing Motherhood: Factoring in Consumption
and Privilege
Anne Teresa Demo 1
1. The Golden Egg: The Business of Making Mothers through Egg
Donation
Charlotte Kroløkke 28
2. Race(ing) to the Baby Market: The Po liti cal Economy of Overcoming
Infertility
K. Animashaun Ducre 52
3. A Baby “Made in India”: Motherhood, Consumerism, and Privilege in
Transnational Surrogacy
Karen Hvidtfeldt Madsen 76
4. “We Were Introduced to Foods I Never Even Heard of”: Parents as
Consumers on Reality Television
Cynthia Gordon 95
5. Cultivating Community within the Commercial Marketplace: Blurred
Boundaries in the “Mommy” Blogosphere
Jennifer L. Borda 121
6. Mompreneurs: Homemade Organic Baby Food and the
Commodification of Intensive Mothering
Kara N. Dillard 1 51
7. Maternal Crime in a Cathedral of Consumption
Sara Hayden 175
8. “Don’t Worry, Mama Will Fix It!”: Playing with the Mama Myth in
Video Games
Shira Chess 197
viii / Contents
9. Motherhood and the Necessity of Invention: The Possibilities of Play
in a Culture of Consumption
Christine Harold 216
10. Choosing to Consume: Race, Education, and the School Voucher
Debate
Lisa A. Flores 243
Suggested Readings 267
Contributors 271
Index 275
Acknowledgments
The Motherhood Business was conceived in 2008 during a National Commu-
nication Association (NCA) preconference. Since that time, the contribu-
tors have collectively celebrated and offered one another generous support
and patience through births, adoptions, relocations, promotions, diagnoses,
and passings. As our authors transitioned through vari ous phases of their
lives, this book project benefited from evolving insights, the addition of new
contributors, and three NCA panel presentations, as well as many conversa-
tions with generous colleagues who added more nuanced perspectives along
the way. We also had the opportunity to incorporate the rapidly developing
interdisciplinary literature into our project, as well as respond to the chal-
lenging and enlightening recommendations of two anonymous reviewers,
which we feel enriched the project tremendously.
Academic labor not only bears the imprint of insights from colleagues
who listen and read attentively but also (for parents) the aid of those who
care for our children. The editors, in particular, would like to thank B radford
Vivian, Erin Rand, Vanessa Beasely, Karma Chávez, Willem Verweij, the
teachers at Live and Learn Early Learning Center, and Michael Warnock.
We also are very grateful for the support of Dan Waterman, Vanessa Rusch,
Jennifer M. Rogers, and the publishing team at the University of Ala bama
Press. We would also like to thank the Danish Research Council for gener-
ously granting us support towards the indexing of this book.