Hello Re/Visioners,

I’d like to open the December/January issue of Re/visionist with a few quotes:

“The earliest education is most important and it most undoubtedly is woman’s work. If the author of nature had meant to assign it to men he would have given them milk to feed the child.” –Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile

“The human heart was not designed to beat outside the human body and yet, each child represented just that – a parent’s heart bared, beating forever outside its chest.” –Debra Ginsberg

“No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.” –Margaret Sanger

“Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind.” –Howard W. Hunter

“Mothers are all slightly insane.” –JD Salinger, Catcher in the Rye

“This is one of the weird things about motherhood. You can predict that some of your best moments will happen around the toilet at six am while you’re holding a pile of fingernail clippings like a Santeria priestess.” –Tina Fey, Bossypants

“Eh, get a dog.” –Rona Holub, respected director of the Women’s History Program

 You guessed it, this month’s issue of Re/Visionist is on the theme of Motherhood. We’ve got a great mix of articles, from historical interpretations of motherhood, to stories from actual mothers about their daily lives, to some good old lactivism. Aren’t sure what lactivism is? Well dear reader, read on!

Lori Rotskoff and Laura Lovett —When We Were Free to Be… Revisiting A Children’s Classic at the Heart of the Women’s Movement

Emilie Egger – Violence Against Mothers 

Emma Staffaroni – “In the Service of the Matriarchy”: A Conversation with Author Robert Leleux

Katy Gehred – “Kisses to the little ones”: Martha Jefferson Randolph and Early American Motherhood

Jenn Garvey – Utterly Normal: Breastfeeding in Public

Emma Staffaroni – Mother’s Pensions

Rebecca Linz – Sitting Shiva

Carolyn O’Laughlin – Babysitter Wanted

Enjoy, and happy holidays!

Katy Gehred, Co-Editor