Evil is Part of the Territory: Inventing the Stepmother in Self-Help Books
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Abstract
The “wicked stepmother” is a popular cultural commonplace, but when women become stepmothers, many find themselves trapped by the cliche with few resources to navigate or resist it. In this article, we examine the rhetoric of self-help books, one of the few print genres aimed at stepmothers. We argue that these texts reify a particular identity by perpetuating cultural stereotypes, reinforcing negative connotations about stepmothers, and providing inadequate solutions to common issues that arise as a result. The books reinscribe the primacy of biological mothering and relegate stepmothers to a secondary status at the same time as they subject stepmothers to the contradictory expectations of intensive mothering. The privilege of motherhood is granted, deflected, and denied across these advice books. We seek to move beyond the negative expectations of this common parenting role and point to the inadequacies of the solutions offered in self-help books to expand and diversify the visibility of and possibilities for alternative familial configurations.
Print ISSN
2152-999X
Publication Title
Women's Studies in Communication
Recommended Citation
Renegar, V. R., & Cole, K. (2019). Evil is part of the territory: Inventing the stepmother in self-help books. Women's studies in communication, 42(4), 511-533. https://doi.org/10.1080/07491409.2019.1660745
DOI
10.1080/07491409.2019.1660745
Link to Publisher Version (DOI)
Publisher's Copyright and Source
Copyright © 2019 The Organization for Research on Women and Communication.
Article published in Women's Studies in Communication, volume 42, issue 4, 2019, pages 511-533. https://doi.org/10.1080/07491409.2019.1660745
