Search results

To study how twenty-first-century fairy tale retellings recombine villainy and motherhood, this chapter analyses two mother figures in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019): Aurora's godmother, Maleficent, and Aurora's soon-to-be mother-in-law, Queen Ingrith. I argue that Mistress of Evil attempts and fails to trouble the Good/Terrible Mother binary, ultimately reconfirming traditional notions of the Good Mother, by juxtaposing two mother villain characters. Ingrith first appears to be the epitome of the Good Mother, but the film quickly reveals that she is actually the stereotypical evil mother-in-law who uses the Good Mother image to mask her villainy. By exposing Ingrith's lie, the film debases the myth of perfect motherhood, suggesting that the image of the ‘Good Mother’ is only used to vilify other women in order to control people, but it also uses the Good Mother image to highlight how Terrible Ingrith is. Maleficent, on the other hand, vacillates between twenty-first-century images of the Terrible and Good Mother, specifically the aberrant and supermother. Rather than balancing these images and depicting a more nuanced motherhood, the film switches Maleficent completely between these two extremes, making her seem more villainous when she is aberrant and more motherly when she steps into the role of supermother. Whereas the representation of Ingrith highlights the lie of the Good Mother, Maleficent is forced into becoming a variation of that image. I argue that while Mistress of Evil attempts to reveal the pernicious nature of the Good Mother myth, it ultimately reconfirms it for a new generation of women.

A simulation of workplace conflict examined the effects of a manager′s pregnancy on male and female subordinates. Study participants ‐ 40 women and 41 men from an MBA programme – each took part in two ten‐minute long, interactive role plays with two women managers (research confederates), one apparently pregnant and the other not. The participants′ impressions of the manager were tapped using an author‐developed questionnaire and brief interviews. Interactive data were analysed to determine the nature of the expression of emotion and ideas. The results show that participants had more negative impressions of and lower satisfaction with the pregnant manager than with the manager who was not pregnant, and initiated more social conversation with the former than with the latter. Interview data suggest that participants had expected the pregnant manager to be passive, nice and giving, and were surprised by her authoritative behaviour. Implications for pregnant managers are discussed.

The ‘Terrible Mother’ traditionally connotes monstrous aspects of motherhood and devouring femininity, encompassing two stereotypical representation of women in myth, fairy tale and fantasy: The Seductress and the Wicked stepmother. The Seductress personifies female malevolence and is characterized as rebellious, manipulative and relentless. Furthermore, she often adopts male aggressiveness, especially sexual, thus usurping male prerogative. Ironically, the temptress is condemned for exhibiting traits which the male hero is lauded for, while also embodying a warning to other women regarding their fate should they rebel against male authority. These narrative strands converge in Cersei, who becomes an embodiment of male anxiety and stands as the chief moral foil and greatest sociopolitical threat to male hegemony.

Concomitantly, Cersei plays the part of the wicked stepmother to Sansa Stark, the series' archetypal damsel in distress. Like Sansa, Cersei began with starry-eyed dreams of womanhood, but quickly grew disillusioned. Despite this, Cersei subjects Sansa to the same injustices she suffered. This re-enactment of her own mistreatment situates Cersei as the female accomplice to the patriarchy. Yet, Cersei also attempts to educate Sansa about women's position vis-à-vis the patriarchy and the tools at their disposal, thus layering the role of the wicked stepmother. Furthermore, Cersei's narrative is complicated as she becomes a point of view character: her focalization becomes a fertile ground for myriad challenges to an androcentric culture, opening avenues for social criticism and possible reimagining of gender roles.

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the ways in which gender is socially constructed through transnational adoption.

Feminist methodologies and reflexivity are put into practice. Life histories of women who participate in transnational adoptions are presented.

Life history narratives shed light on how these particular women, through the process of transnational adoption, experience gender differently and in more complex ways. Adoptive mothers’ negotiations (and renegotiations) of their own gender contribute to our understandings of how motherhood (and, thereby, womanhood) is constructed in broader society.

Life histories provide rich, thick descriptions of social life. However, they are limited in terms of reliability and making generalizations about larger populations.

This chapter engages the reader, scholars, students, practitioners, and policy-makers in contemplating the processes of motherhood and womanhood.

The chapter is a building block for future research on this topic and challenges our understandings of “motherhood” and “womanhood.”

This chapter is unique in that I include my own life narrative and story of becoming a mother through transnational adoption. Through reflexivity, the researcher becomes the subject and vice versa. These life history narratives offer insight through their expressions of “everyday knowledge” (Hill Collins, 2000) and bring new dimensions to the study of gender as these women’s experiences are situated within the intersections of the global economy, specific political systems, and individual identities.

In recent years, the topic of maternal imprisonment has experienced a significantly raised profile, generating new knowledge and understanding surrounding the impact of maternal imprisonment on mothers and their children (Baldwin, 2015, 2017, 2018; Baldwin & Epstein, 2017; Booth, 2017; Lockwood, 2017, 2018; Masson, 2019). However, the long-term impact of maternal imprisonment and subsequent resettlement, particularly in relation to maternal identity and emotion, is less well-researched or understood. This chapter, drawing on the authors research from across two projects with 46 post imprisoned mothers, highlights the significant impact, as described by the mothers, on their reintegration into their families and the persistent pains of maternal imprisonment. Mothers sometimes, decades post release, describe their ongoing trauma at being separated from their children, sometimes permanently. Those who remain in their children's lives describe how they feel ‘tainted’, ‘watched’, ‘judged’ and ‘permanently changed by their imprisonment’. For the mothers in the study who were also grandmothers, the effects appeared magnified, producing what grandmothers described as ‘layers of shame’. The chapter describes how this change, often negative perception of themselves as mothers, can interplay with mothers' ability to engage in rehabilitative processes and ultimately their desistance.

The chapter concludes with recommendations to avoid, wherever possible, the criminalisation of mothers, resulting in fewer imprisonments. In the event of imprisonment, greater consideration must be afforded to maternal experience and emotions. To maximise success, early resettlement work, starting within and continuing through the prison gates is essential. Failure to do so may impact negatively on mothers' themselves and their ability to engage in rehabilitative planning/supervision and therefore desistance, which will ultimately broaden the impact to their children and wider society.

The purpose of this paper is to problematise the notion of woman-as-monster and draws together a conceptual analysis of the monstrous-feminine and its relation to maternal and monstrous bodies including its implications for equality and inclusion in the workplace.

Whilst exploring how female monsters are inextricably tied to their sexual difference, the author draws on social and psychoanalytic perspectives to suggest how such monstrosity is expressed through ambivalence to the maternal. The author analyses two “faces” of the monstrous-feminine in particular: the archaic mother and the monstrous womb (Creed, 1993) and develop this discussion in relation to the potential for a feminist monstrous politics of organisation.

First, the author exposes the basis on which the monstrous-feminine articulates and disarticulates femininity, that is to say, how a feminist analysis of monsters may enable but also foreclose a positive articulation of disruption, disorder and disorganisation central to the conceptualisation of monsters. This is done through a reading of the maternal-feminine and literature on motherhood in organisation studies. Second, the author locates the monstrous-feminine in the body and explores how maternal bodies are constructed and experienced as monstrous as they disrupt the self/other relationship. This analysis suggests that embodying the monster comes with risks and that different configurations of the monstrous maternal are necessary for equality and inclusion in the workplace.

The paper identifies and contributes to growing research on the ambivalence of monsters and expands a neglected area of the feminine and maternal aspects of these relationships and what this means for workplace relations.

This chapter traces the life and leadership journey of the Honorable Marie Rex Sukers. Born in the Western Cape, South Africa, the unconventional trajectory of Marie’s life is evident right from her conception. Throughout her life, Marie grasped opportunities to rise above her personal circumstances which were exacerbated by the all-pervading and deep-seated discrimination in her country. Her courage and resilience culminated in Marie being appointed to the esteemed position of Member of the South African Parliament in 2019. Working in a hostile democratic environment unleashed continuous rounds of personal and institutional challenges, each begging for transformational power and fresh courage.

This chapter uses two theoretical models, Van Doorn’s Double Helix Leadership theory and Kinnear’s Leadership Power Tensions Model to describe how Marie’s life and career illustrates how all women, when they find themselves at the pinnacle of accomplishment, wade through cycles of disillusionment or disappointment to land just where they are meant to be. Rich learning insights emerge from Marie, a heroine on a profound journey upcycling leadership into personal courage and deeper, authentic power. Our chapter provides guidelines and the “know-how” to transform your leadership power for a better world, both personally and globally.