Event: VIRTUAL PIZZA TALK: MY TWO PET PEEVES IN AFRICAN ARTS: FERTILITY GODDESSES AND "DOLLS"

In writing my latest (and probably last) book: Maternity: Mothers and Children in the Arts of Africa, two stereotypes emerged that I ran into more or less often as I researched the topic, and these ended up as "pet peeves" that I felt the need to address in my text: "fertility goddess" as a descriptor of Africn images of mothers with children, especially those shown suckling, and the word "doll" as applied to images of children used by many potential mother to help them conceive, or if pregnant, to make sure the pregnancy goes well and a healthy, handsome child is born.  I will explore both of these stereotypes and show that both are ultimately racist words when applied to maternity and child images.

Suggested reading for the talk available here.

Register for this Cotsen Virtual Pizza Talk here! You will receive instructions on viewing the talk after registering.