JESSAMINE CHAN’S THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS AS A CRITIQUE OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF INTENSIVE MOTHERING

Abstract

Feminist authors argue that the dystopian as well as utopian genres have long lacked a female perspective. In 2022, the novel, The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan emerged, quickly gaining popularity due to its themes of surveillance, control, and intensive mothering. Drawing on the perspective of Adrienne Rich, Margaret Nelson and Sharon Hays, this paper examined the criteria that school and society at large impose on mothers, along with the aspects of surveillance and control deemed necessary due to the proliferation of risks that affect the psycho-physical development of children. The category of a good parent has a racial, class and gender dimension, which leads to different levels of routine surveillance. Parenting experts and child welfare workers often associate neglect with the members of black and brown races, and lower-income families. Patriarchal values, which establish motherhood as the sole legitimate life goal for women, frequently label mothers as bad. There is no inherent problem with the concept of a school teaching parenting skills. However, the novel addresses a significant issue by promoting intensive mothering as a universal standard while neglecting to consider the intersection of race, class, gender, age, and ethnicity and their influence on parenting practices.