UPDATE: This book is now the August AND September Online Book Club of the Month pick! Apparently, too many vacations, summer camps, etc. keeping mamas away from this heavier read during the last month of summer. Understood :). So the kidlets are back in school, and it’s time to get reading! Especially with the election coming up! Read this book, leave a comment, and enter to win our Aug/Sept Book Club GIVEAWAY: Custom monogram notecards and a custom frame by Munchkin Designs! (See photos at the bottom of the post)
Before you pound that Election 2008 sign into your front lawn, take a peek at the real change agents of American society; the mamas. They stand up to bosses, override playgroup bullies, and advocate for policies that shape the future for women across the globe. Mothers are willful, brave, protective, active, hopeful; they led the way to social change even before Betty Friedan taught husbands how to hold a baby bottle.
Author Shari MacDonald Strong’s vibrant collection of work from such notable women as Benazir Bhutto, Barbara Kingsolver, Nancy Pelosi and Anna Quindlen draws readers into the not-so-mysterious realm of mothers and politics. From former peace-marching, bra-burning feminists of the sixties to mothers of the 21st century discovering a whole new concept of war and peace, The Maternal is Political reopens our eyes to a definition of motherhood shaping the lives of our children, and every child, everywhere.
MacDonald Strong divides the book into three distinct categories; “Believe”, “Teach”, and “Act”, each with unique essays so moving that I was finally forced to wield a pen, furiously circling and underlining phrases for future use. Leading off with Judith Stadtman Tucker’s piece titled “Motherhood Made Me Do It”, the reader is treated to a march through the past and into the future, as we begin to glean with some clarity how mothers manage to rock the future of politics while raising a family. Stadtman Tucker writes “All I can say is that the complexities of my own lived experience of motherhood led me to this work, the work of social change. And now it’s the only kind of work that makes sense to me.” Similar reflections are prevalent throughout the book, and according to practically every author featured inside, the world better wake the hell up.
The Maternal is Political rang an alarm in my brain. Am I, the mother of two sons, a wife and a writer, doing enough, or anything, to raise awareness of the role women continue to play? Do my sons even know what it means to embrace social consciousness and run with it, unafraid to tell people what they think? Am I a political chicken?
A riveting, sometimes brutally honest account by women writers across a spectrum of political, cultural, and civil landscapes, The Maternal is Political aims for visceral understanding of women and social change through stories that just might make one want to stand up and cheer for Girl Power, or slink into a dark corner, withered by guilt of not doing enough for all the women of the world.
There will be those who protest the book’s liberal tone, certainly. But even conservative readers cannot deny the emotions of each individual writer as she outlines a personal experience that led her to become an activist for societal transformation.
Mothers are the ones who get it done. We are the Master Multi-Taskers; CEO’s one minute, carpool drivers, dinner party planners and boo-boo kissers the next. Many of us failed to realize our social potential until we pushed out our own little bundles of civic responsibility. We’d do anything for our daughters and sons, and woe to the soul who tries to get in our way.
The Maternal is Political just proves that the mamas are still in the forefront of American political circles, and they are all fired up. Don’t forget to “Vote Mother” first this year!
Reviewed by Erin Kirkland
www.elituqakbrady.blogspot.com
Leave a comment today and enter to win our Aug/Sept Book Club Giveaway! Custom monogram notecards and custom frames from Munchkin Designs:
