ABSTRACT
The process of reformulating and reinforcing the historic control of fathers over children and in families hinges on casting the practice of single motherhood as "deviant". The impetus for this designation seems to be that the existence of unstigmatized mothers successfully mothering outside of the traditional heterosexual family calls into question some of the basic components of patriarchal ideology. The representation of single motherhood as pathological is inextricably linked to patriarchical ideology. The concept of deviant motherhood that emerges in poverty discourses most clearly and unambiguously reflects the role of patriarchal ideology in the process of constructing Mother. In expressions of popular culture, as well as in public policy, single motherhood may be perceived, at best, as requiring an uneasy accommodation with the dominant ideology. The societal aspiration, however, remains to complete the "family" by the addition of a man.
