Mama & Me

HOW DO MOTHERS’ IDENTITIES SHIFT AND CHANGE?

“Good” mom, “bad” mom, permissive mom--share the inner thoughts of women worldwide as they wrestle with the joys and challenges of balancing motherhood and their personal identities.

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Your Voices

ART, WRITING, AND MULTIMEDIA FROM WOMEN AND MEN AROUND THE WORLD

There is No "I" in Mother

Catherine Haley Epstein’s paintings touch on the many ways women’s identities shift and change when they become mothers.

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Yes These Bones Shall Live

Kate Wilhelm uses roller derby to examine how real women contradict traditional gender codes in their identities as women and mothers.

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BirthMarkings

Margaret Lazarus’ film “BirthMarkings” explores our post birth bodies—and how our self-image—change after giving birth.

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Detachment

Maria Adela Diaz’s video performance demonstrates the mother-child bond and the need for “Detachment” in order for both to grow as individuals.

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Big Ideas

THOUGHT LEADERS PRESENT PROVOCATIVE, INNOVATIVE IDEAS

What Makes a Good Mother?

A woman's worth is often evaluated based on her performance as a mother, but Hafsat Abiola says it's even more important for women to make a difference outside the home.

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On Being a Black Mom

Kimberly Seals Allers shares her experience dealing with prejudices as a black mom in the United States, and argues that broader representation of black mothers in the media is long overdue.

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Stories

FICTION AND MEMOIR FROM CELEBRATED WOMEN WRITERS

Broken Toys

Blessing Musariri tells the story of Tinashe, a young Zimbabwean boy. When his mother takes Tinashe away with her in hopes of starting a new life, her young son must confront incomprehensible loss.

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Waiting to Share

Leila Aboulela tells the story of a pregnant woman who recently moved to a new city for her husband's job; she is often alone, and feels uncertain and unmoored as she awaits the birth of her baby.

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Fish

Sierra Leonian writer Aminatta Forna tells the story of a girl with a charismatic mother who was the favorite wife of her father, but also the target of judgments and criticisms from others in their community.

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A Labor of Love

Samina Ali tells about her medically dangerous labor and delivery, during which she almost died, and what she learned from her infant son during her long period of rehabilitation.

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Letter to My Daughter

Maggie Gee describes the growing pains she experienced as her daughter grew older and as she attempted to balance work and motherhood.

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Butterfly Dreams

Beatrice Lamwaka's "Butterfly Dreams" is the story of a young woman who returns to her mother after five years of being a child soldier.

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The Gift

Valerie Mason-John tells the affecting story of a woman in Sierra Leone who lost many of her children and watched her country be torn apart by war and the search for blood diamonds.

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Mama & Me

In Context

Heroes

Your Voices

Big Ideas

Stories

Meet The Mamas

Art Gallery

Major Sponsors

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