The monsters who raise us: Unearthing the haunted institution of motherhood

Chin, Abigail Williams

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/118080 Copy

Description

Title

The monsters who raise us: Unearthing the haunted institution of motherhood

Author(s)

Chin, Abigail Williams

Issue Date

2023

Keyword(s)

• Motherhood
• Monster
• Haunting
• Choreography
• Modern-Contemporary
• Mothers
• Horror
• Dance

Language

en

Abstract

This research examines the political, cultural and legal systems of the contemporary United States that turn mothers into monsters. Through the modes of embodied research and dance choreography, this research explores the incredibly powerful, conflicting emotions, desires and impulses that mothers are compelled to sanitize or repress to align with codes of civility. The lack of access to reproductive medical care, minimal maternity leave policies, and the constructs of default parenting demonstrate that little of the expectations of motherhood have changed over the past century. Using personal, embodied experience as a new mother alongside Adrienne Rich’s institution of motherhood, Eve Tuck’s conception of Monsters and Avery Gordon’s notions of Hauntings, Chin examines the ways in which anxiety, guilt, shame, trauma and unmet societal expectations haunt mothers and over time, create monsters. Referencing mass distributed American horror films as an additional point of departure, this research explores the physiological impact of suppressing feminine rage to meet cultural expectations of mothers. The research is synthesized through a choreographic process that explores the interplay between monstrous, uncanny movements and touches of comfort and support. The choreographic process draws on historical dance references of rageful, ghostly feminine figures, such as Petipa’s willis from Giselle, in conversation with the recollection of Chin’s first-hand experiences gestating, birthing and sustaining a small child. It seeks to develop an embodied understanding of the transition into motherhood, and inevitably monstrosity. The premiere performance iteration of this process was performed by a cast of 9 dancers at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign in January 2023 at the Krannert Center for Performing Arts.

Type of Resource

• text
• moving image

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Abigail Williams Chin

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