Rebekah Spicuglia - They met in Toronto and cemented a movement of mothers that now promises a global network, with a website and a wide-ranging set of objectives. The author helped film a documentary tracing their progress.

Beginning December 1, 2008, mothers around the world have had access to the first global consortium of motherhood organizations. Marking ten years after the Association for Research on Mothering (ARM) was founded, mothers’ organizations in North America and around the world came together in October for the ARM annual Toronto conference on motherhood and emerged as an International Motherhood Network (IMN).

The website is live and inviting members to join, but IMN does not officially launch until May 8, 2009 (International Woman’s Day). At the Toronto conference, the founding organizations agreed to hold off the launch in order to include as many mothers’ organizations around the world as possible on the big day. With 35 founding organizations already linked and committed to publicize events in the month of May, and a conference planned for 2011, IMN plans to influence public discussion for a more mother-centered world.

My husband, Marcarthur Baralla (Defendshee Production), and I filmed the conference and interviewed more than 30 women for a documentary—“The Motherhood Movement: You Say You Want a Revolution”—being produced for the Museum of Motherhood. Exploring the movement’s evolution over the last 50 years, the documentary will be a highlight of the museum, which was established online in 2003 and will soon be a physical museum located in Seneca Falls—home of the first U.S. women’s rights convention in 1848. The museum, founded by ARM and the Motherhood Foundation, is a long overdue project to honor the achievements of mothers.

For the documentary, Andrea O'Reilly, founder and director of ARM and York University professor, spoke about the effect of motherhood on her work in women’s studies. “I realized that the topic of motherhood had scarcely been mentioned. Violence against women, health, work, education, beauty myth, sexuality were the topics under discussion in the women’s studies curriculum,” she said, explaining why she designed her own course on motherhood. “The few times motherhood was mentioned, it was usually done so negatively…a patriarchal trap.”

What was obvious from our interviews is how wide-ranging the movement has become. From LiteraryMama to Mamapalooza, Mothers Acting Up to CODEPINK, SisterSong to Welfare Warriors, organizations raise awareness about the impact of mothers on their communities. MomsRising in particular has made great strides over the last year with an activism that combines swift online force with in-person delivery, taking action against toxic toys and demanding that politicians improve workplace policies. Read all at Womans Media Center

Rebekah Spicuglia is the WMC media manager. She has combined her dedication to progressive values with her background in film and television production to create and advocate for inclusive, effective media. In addition to her role as News Brief editor, Rebekah writes for the WMC website and blog, oversees media production, manages interns, and coordinates outreach and program logistics.