Abstract
In this article, I reflect on how my positioning along axes of disability, race, and class shapes my interaction with dominant discourses of motherhood and on how these tensions are explored in The Mother, a public installation of my artwork shown in 2023. Situating myself in the liminal space between participation in and resistance to normative motherhood ideology, I invite other disabled mothers—especially other cisgendered, heterosexual white women—to consider how they practice disabled mothering in the context of racial capitalism. Through both the installation and these reflections, I assert that visible disabled mothering can be a powerful act of community care and crip resistance.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jenna Gabriel
Jenna Gabriel is a doctoral candidate at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research explores how disability and race were co-constructed during the period of Massive Resistance, how these dominant understandings show up in present-day schools, and the strategies of resistance to ableism and racism that are possible within the art room.