Still a mother : noncustodial mothers, gendered institutions, and social change

This book traces the trajectories of mothers who have lost or ceded custody to an ex-partner. The book argues that these noncustodial mothers' experiences should be understood within a greater web of gendered social institutions such as employment, education, health care, and legal systems that shapes the meanings of contemporary motherhood in the United States. If motherhood means “being there,” then noncustodial mothers, through their absence, are seen as nonmothers. They are anti-mothers to be reviled. At the very least, these mothers serve as cautionary tales. The book questions the existence of an objective method for determining custody of children and challenges the “best-interests standard” through a feminist, reproductive justice lens. The stories of noncustodial mothers that the book relates shed light on marriage and divorce, caregiving, gender violence, and family court. Unfortunately, much of the contemporary discussion of child-custody determination is dominated either by gender-neutral discussions or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, by the idea that fathers are severely disadvantaged in custody disputes. As a result, the idea that mothers always receive custody has taken on the status of common sense. If this was true, as the book's author affirms, there would be no book to write. Jackie Krasas traces the trajectories of mothers who have lost or ceded custody to an ex-partner. She argues that these noncustodial mothers' experiences should be understood within a greater web of gendered social institutions such as employment, education, health care, and legal systems that shapes the meanings of contemporary motherhood in the United States. If motherhood means "being there," then noncustodial mothers, through their absence, are seen as nonmothers. They are anti-mothers to be reviled. At the very least, these mothers serve as cautionary tales. Still a Mother questions the existence of an objective method for determining custody of children and challenges the "best-interests standard" through a feminist, reproductive justice lens. The stories of noncustodial mothers that Krasas relates shed light on marriage and divorce, caregiving, gender violence, and family court. Unfortunately, much of the contemporary discussion of child custody determination is dominated either by gender-neutral discussions, or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, by the idea that fathers are severely disadvantaged in custody disputes. As a result, the idea that mothers always receive custody has taken on the status of common sense. If this was true, as Krasas affirms, there would be no book to write. Jackie Krasas traces the trajectories of non-custodial mothers who have lost or ceded custody to an ex-partner. She argues that non-custodial mothers' experiences should be understood within a greater web of gendered social institutions such as employment, education, health care, and legal sytems that shape the meanings of contemporary motherhood in the United States. If motherhood means "being there" then non-custodial mothers, through their absence, are seen as non-mothers. They are anti-mothers to be reviled. At the very least, these mothers serve as cautionary tales. Still a Mother questions the existence of an objective method for determining custody for children and challenges the "best interests" standard through a feminist reproductive justice lens. The stories of non-custodial mothers Krasas relates shed light on marriage and divorce, caregiving, gender violence, and family court. Unfortunately, much of the contemporary discussion of child custody determination is dominated either by gender neutral discussions, or at the opposite end of the spectrum by the idea that fathers are severely disadvantaged in custody disputes. As a result, the idea that mothers always have custody has taken on the status of common sense. If this were true, as Krasas affirms, there would be no book to write "Still a Mother is about the experiences of noncustodial mothers who have lost or ceded custody to an ex-partner. The author argues that these noncustodial experiences should be understood in the greater web of gendered social institutions such as employment, education, health care, and legal institutions that shape the meanings of contemporary experiences of motherhood in the United States."-- Provided by publisher A contradiction in terms -- The mothers -- She must have done something -- Still a mother -- Father of the year -- Manufacturing bad bothers -- Still in an abusive relationship -- Lessons learned