What makes a good mother? What makes a mother at all? Where does motherhood come from? The nature of motherhood has perhaps never been more controversial or debated as it is today. The ANU Gender Institute and Centre for Philosophy of the Sciences invite you to this special National Science Week Event examining the scientific basis of motherhood from a philosophical and sociological perspective. In doing so, we draw out some key issues relating to motherhood and choice, the biological nature of mothering and the ways in which modern technology and motherhood intersect. Presentations will be made by three internationally recognised researchers in the area with plenty of time for discussion. The event is aimed at a general audience and all are welcome.

Please register for the event here.

2.00-3.00pm Prof. Fiona Woollard (University of Southampton) "Bottles, Breasts and Birthing Pools: Common Problems in Our Discourse on Birth ‘Choices’ and Infant-Feeding Decisions"

Many women feel judged about how they feed their babies. Women feel called upon to justify decisions to use infant formula or to show that they are not breastfeeding ‘too long’ or ‘too indiscreetly’. Many women feel pressured to feed one way rather than another. It is not uncommon for women to want to hide how they are feeding their babies from friends, relatives or even health care providers. Sharing good feelings about one’s feeding journey is very difficult: any such celebration is likely to be seen as an attempt to shame others. We see similar issues when it comes to how babies are born. This paper identifies some key common problems in our discourse on birth ‘choices’ and infant-feeding decisions and argues that they can be traced to repeated philosophical mistakes in our thinking about motherhood.

3.00-3.30 Coffee Break

3.30-4.30pm Dr. Ellen Clarke (University of Leeds) ”Evolution of/and motherhood”

Human mothering has evolved: it isn’t the same as it is in our closest primate ancestors, and it isn’t the same now as it was in the Pleistocene. These changes have likely been enormously consequential for the trajectory Homo sapiens has taken. And yet mothers and mothering feature hardly at all in standard narratives of human evolution. It’s high time this changed!

This event is presented by Centre for Philosophy of the Sciences & ANU Gender Institute