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Displacement of (M)others in Twenty-First Century U.S. Films
Impact on Maternal Identities of ‘Other’ Subjectivities
Displacement of (M)others in Twenty-First Century U.S. Films
Impact on Maternal Identities of ‘Other’ Subjectivities
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Description
This book retraces maternal philosophy by presenting an alternative genealogy and providing a concrete definition of the term (m)other. Most importantly, it introduces a new theory of The Gaze Economy in order to evaluate characters in films and measure its effect on the subjects in those films.
This book looks at philosophical traditions that excluded female voices and that codified women into motherhood and labor of care. From the philosophical foundation, the book moves toward presenting key ideas linked to maternal subjectivity, arguing that maternal subjectivity is rhizomatic, rather than just a split.
The central inquiries lead to the concept of (m)others and the discourses that this concept and these identities highlight, discussing maternal politics and the dispossession of maternal bodies into certain spaces to understand the importance of looking into the performativity of the maternal in both, fictional and non-fictional spaces. The author uses The Gaze Economy to look at the performativity of mothers as much as its aesthetic representation.
Table of Contents
1. Maternal Thinking: A Philosophical Practice
2. Becoming a Mother: Its Subjectivities and The Power Structures That Attempt to Define It
3. (M)others in the Maternal Discourse
4. Maternal Politics and the Dispossession of Its Bodies and Spaces
5. Film Economics and The Gaze Economy
6. The Gaze Economy and Subjectivity
7. Framing Reel Mothers
8. The Character's Voice: What Did They Say?
Conclusion: An Epilogue for (M)others, Welcome Home!
Index
Product details
| Published | Oct 16 2025 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 256 |
| ISBN | 9798765126424 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 69 bw illus |
| Dimensions | 229 x 152 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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Displacement of (M)others in Twenty-First Century U.S. Films examines how mainstream cinema marginalizes and misrepresents diverse maternal identities, particularly non-normative mothers. By analyzing film narratives, gaze theory, and economics, the work critiques the exclusion of these "mothers" and explores the broader impact on societal perceptions of motherhood.
Swarnavel Eswaran Pillai, Professor, Michigan State University, USA



















