Struyf, Joke. Please Leave the Emergency Lane in an Orderly Fashion: Ableism in Western Normative Motherhood
2023, Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 26(3/4): 217-234
, Contributed by: Joke Struyf
Abstract:
In this article, I propose the hypothesis that in contemporary western normative motherhood, pregnancy and (early) motherhood are often perceived as a temporary fit of bewilderment, both physically, psychologically and socially. I introduce the metaphor of the emergency lane to express this state of exception. Mothers are granted temporary relief from certain expectations. However, the need to get back in shape and back to work – the need to leave the emergency lane – quickly, preferably unharmed, reveals the assumption that mothers in that early period are not fully regarded as people. Drawing on insights from maternal and critical disability scholars I argue that these norms are deeply ableist and affect all mothers. Moreover, I suggest that postponed motherhood might be linked to the fear of this emergency lane, and I use the decline theory, a concept from ageing studies, to make this argument.
In this article, I propose the hypothesis that in contemporary western normative motherhood, pregnancy and (early) motherhood are often perceived as a temporary fit of bewilderment, both physically, psychologically and socially. I introduce the metaphor of the emergency lane to express this state of exception. Mothers are granted temporary relief from certain expectations. However, the need to get back in shape and back to work – the need to leave the emergency lane – quickly, preferably unharmed, reveals the assumption that mothers in that early period are not fully regarded as people. Drawing on insights from maternal and critical disability scholars I argue that these norms are deeply ableist and affect all mothers. Moreover, I suggest that postponed motherhood might be linked to the fear of this emergency lane, and I use the decline theory, a concept from ageing studies, to make this argument.
Comment: This text links Crip theory with the critical study of motherhood/mothering. It can spark further discussion on parallels between these. It also makes explicit the ableism (understood broadly based on Wolbring's and Lewis' definitions) in normative motherhood, understanding ableism in a broad way. In this way, it can fuel further discussion on ableism as the underlying ‘ism’ that structures all other prejudices/'isms'.