About Mother Outlaws

"We were conspirators, outlaws from the institution of motherhood; I felt enormously in charge of my life"
Adrienne Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Institution and Experience, 1976

"Mother Outlaws recognize that mothers and children benefit when the mother lives her life, and practices mothering, from a position of agency, authority, authenticity and autonomy"
Andrea O'Reilly, Mother Outlaws: Theories and Practices of Empowered Mothering. Toronto: Women's Press, 2004

Mother Outlaws is a community outreach initiative of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI) .

Mother Outlaws has established itself globally as a recognizable image and cultural signifier of how mothering against the institution of motherhood can be envisioned and experienced as empowering for women. More specifically, Mother Outlaws endeavours to challenge normative discourses of motherhood and bridge the divides between "lived mothering" (personal experiences and activism) and "examined motherhood" (academic scholarship, popular culture and public policy).

The outreach initiatives of Mother Outlaws include: this blog, a continuing Mother Outlaws' Speakers Series held monthly in Toronto, special events, activist activities, media coverage, and the support for  the development  of Mother Outlaws feminist discussion  groups in other cities and countries.

A chapter entitled "Mother Outlaws: Building Communities of Empowered Feminist Mothers in the Mother'hood" by Linn Baran is included in the recent anthology The 21st Century Motherhood Movement:  Mothers Speak Out on Why We Need to Change the World and How to Do It.

For more information and inquiries, please contact:

  Linn Baran

 linnbaran@sympatico.ca

We are  continuously in the process of planning our Mother Outlaws Speakers Series and are interested in hearing from individuals who would like to present their work at our community events. Please forward inquiries and abstracts about your scholarly work, activism, writing, art, etc to linnbaran@sympatico.ca.

This blog  also welcomes guest posts and book reviews on the topic of feminist motherhood. Please contact the blog coordinator listed above.

The above image and logo for Mother Outlaws is copyrighted to Linn Baran.