"Unwed Mother": Sex, Stigma, and Spoiled Identity

Valerie J. Andrews

doi:10.1353/ado.2020.0000

Book Review: The Unwed Mother

Social Casework ◽

10.1177/104438946704800309 ◽

1967 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 171-172

Author(s):

Colonel Jane E. Wrieden

Keyword(s):

Unwed Mother

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Becoming an Unwed Mother: A Sociological Account, Prudence Mors Rains. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1971, 198 pp., index

Urban Life and Culture ◽

10.1177/089124167200100310 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 327-328

Author(s):

Nanette Davis

Keyword(s):

Unwed Mother

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THE INFANTICIDAL MOTHER

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.63.4.632 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 63 (4) ◽

pp. 632-632

Author(s):

Maria W. Piers

Keyword(s):

Eighteenth Century ◽

European Countries ◽

Western Civilization ◽

Excessive Pressure ◽

Unwed Mother ◽

History Of ◽

History Of Western Civilization

Discrimination against the unwed mother runs like a red thread through the history of Western civilization. It became blatant in eighteenth-century France (and Germany and, undoubtedly, in other European countries). It did not matter how the infant had been conceived, i.e., by way of rape, excessive pressure, prostitution as a means to stay alive; the father was only interesting as a source of money. Whatever punishable acts were committeed, such as abandonment or killing of a baby, the guilt was fastened exclusively on the mother, and the penalty was usually a cruel death ... the condemned woman was faced with a variety of death penalties, of which decapitation was considered the most merciful. Other means were burial alive, impalement, and "sacking" (drowning), which was frequently the penalty of choice.... The infanticidal mother was stuffed into a black sack together with a dog, a cat, a rooster, or a viper. The sack had to remain under water for six hours and the choir boys sang "Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich zu Dir." Then the deceased was interred.

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XVI. Helping the Unwed Mother

In-Service Casework Training ◽

10.7312/nich91550-017 ◽

1966 ◽

pp. 141-149

Keyword(s):

Unwed Mother

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Twenty-One

Barbara La Marr ◽

10.5810/kentucky/9780813174259.003.0022 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Sherri Snyder

Keyword(s):

Parenting Practices ◽

Unwed Mother ◽

The Public ◽

Home Life ◽

Central Focus ◽

Critical Commentary ◽

Public Reaction

As the chapter opens, Barbara’s career again takes central focus. Arthur Sawyer’s strategy for handling her career, his determination to capitalize upon her ability to embody vamps, and his procurement of several beneficial film contracts for her are detailed. Included among these contracts are roles in The Eternal Struggle (1923),Strangers of the Night (1923), The Brass Bottle (1923), and St. Elmo (1923); plot synopses and information pertaining to production and critical commentary are provided for each film. Additionally, a significant portion of the chapter centers on Barbara’s home life and Sonny. Featured in this section are Barbara’s formal introduction of her son to the public, further public reaction to Barbara as a mother, Barbara’s parenting practices, and her inner conflict with having to live a lie in order to avoid losing her career to scandal for raising Sonny as an unwed mother.

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