‘A Job That Should Be Respected’: contested visions of motherhood and English Canada's second wave women's movements, 1970–1990

Family Matters: Immigrant Women’s Activism in Ontario and British Columbia, 1960s -1980s

“…Wages for Housework's focus on supporting women's work in the home in fact led to quite a negative reac tion from mainstream feminism's umbrella organiza tion, the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC). As other scholars have noted, in 1979 the NAC rejected WFH's application for membership in NAC (Marks et al 2016;McKeen 1995;Vickers et al 1993). In justifying this decision NAC President Kay Macpherson explained that while NAC and WFH agreed on short term goals such as childcare, job train ing, and improved services for women, the two organ izations differed tremendously on long term goals.…”

“…Macpherson wrote: What NAC is aiming for in the long run -equal opportunities, equal pay and end to sex role stereotyping, appears to be in contradiction to the basic goal of the WFH groups, since the aims of Wages for Housework-pay for house work, even the housework done in keeping one self clean and fed…ultimately reinforces the stereotype of women in the home. (Marks, Little et al 2016) e NAC's refusal to admit WFH led to some push back even from some white, professional women, who noted that WFH did important work with immigrant women, lesbians, and women on welfare, who NAC did little to support at that time (Ibid. Association talked about the many burdens immigrant women face: they suffer all the handicaps that white women suffer in Canada, and moreover, they face ra cism and have to fight back against domination and exploitation by the men within their own community (Kinesis 1980, 3).…”

"Good" Mother Versus "Bad" Mother: How Societal Conceptions of Motherhood in Canada and Ukraine Impact a Mother's Access to Opportunities

“…The second wave of feminists wanted to be empowered, and the first way they thought to accomplish that was through entering the paid workforce. There was a consensus that paid work was an indication of women's liberation within Canadian society, as economic independence was the key to women's lives being improved (Marks et al, 2016). By promoting social policies such as pay equity, employment equity, and childcare, women's working conditions were hoped to be improved.…”

Capturing the voices of mothers: Delivery and content efficacy of a community attachment parenting program

“…Mothers stay silent to avoid conflict or judgement as they remain at the receiving end of meagre affirmations that recognize the complexities akin to motherhood (Carpenter & Austin, 2007). Intensifying this silence is the care‐orientated posture of mothering, which has throughout time engendered devaluation and inequality for many women (England, 2005; Marks et al, 2016). Both idealized and underappreciated, care is grounded in ‘patriarchal practices, norms and institutions’ (Bigo, 2010, p. 126) often garnering mothers invisible.…”