ABSTRACT
In this chapter, three types of literature from the West and China are discussed: scientific studies about motherhood; feminist studies of mothers; and intergenerational approaches to childrearing. Then, based on the existing literature, the author’s particular feminist concern in conceptualising motherhood is explained This is influenced by Toril Moi (2001), a feminist theorist who can be traced back to another important feminist tradition from de Beauvoir, where her analysis of mothering experiences did not focus on ‘theories of sex and gender’, but rather were aimed at creating ‘a concrete, historical understanding of what it means to be’ a mother. This can better demonstrate both the structural oppression on women, due to the essentialisation of women’s reproductive roles and women’s particular subjectivities and agency via their discursive childrearing practices. The (in)appropriateness of naming practices studied is addressed, then three main concepts – ‘time’, ‘practice’ and ‘ideology’ – are discussed in terms of their relevance to investigating Chinese women’s lived lives.
