Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses Studies 5-2-2018 Our Sacrifice Shall Not Be Required: Examining Maternal Ambivalence and Refusal in Black Motherhood Candice J. Merritt Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/wsi_theses Recommended Citation Merritt, Candice J., "Our Sacrifice Shall Not Be Required: Examining Maternal Ambivalence and Refusal in Black Motherhood." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2018. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/wsi_theses/66 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. OUR SACRIFICE SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED: EXAMINING MATERNAL AMBIVALENCE AND REFUSAL IN BLACK MOTHERHOOD by CANDICE J. MERRITT Under the Direction of Tiffany King, PhD ABSTRACT This thesis articulates motherhood as both a liberal and black humanist formation that conditions black women to mother and attempts to untether maternity from the black female body. By centering maternal ambivalence—the desire and distaste for motherhood—in selected works by black women, this thesis argues that black motherhood is an ambivalent site for some black women. Motherhood can be a site of joy and displeasure; sacrifice and refusal; life and death. INDEX WORDS: Black Motherhood, Maternal Ambivalence, Black Feminism OUR SACRIFICE SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED: EXAMINING MATERNAL AMBIVALENCE AND REFUSAL IN BLACK MOTHERHOOD by Candice J.