We have two papers, seeking a third

In exploring change and continuity in women’s communities, it is essential to explore and interrogate the world of the internet. The emerging scholarship thus far has privileged blogs over online communities. Our papers deal with online groups of women in various phases of motherhood. One paper explores the use of the internet by expectant mothers by following a group of women on the public website babycenter.com. The second paper suggests a new way to understand motherhood culture, one that recognizes the strong role of the internet in certain women’s everyday lives while concurrently recognizing the role of friendship in the experience of motherhood. I will introduce one small, private, group of online friends and mothers and discuss how, for this group, motherhood is a lived experience not only in real-life interactions between mothers and their children, but also, intriguingly, between online friends.

We are seeking a third paper that explores other uses of internet communities by mothers.

Interested panelists should contact mmoravec@rosemont.edu by February 1. The CFP deadline is 2/15.

Michelle Moravec, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of History
Rosemont College

Sarah Leavitt, Ph.D.
Project Director, House and Home
National Building Museum

For more information about the conference, see http://www.yorku.ca/arm/PerformingFeministMotherhood.html