Performing Subjective Motherhood: An Analysis of Pop-Culture TV Series

The performative theory by Judith Butler states that all of our designated roles are a product of discourses. This means we perform roles based on sociocultural inscriptions. Butler argues that all human bodies are gendered from the moment they enter a society. Furthermore, an individual continues to perform these roles, considering them “natural”. However, Butler emphasises that inscribed performativity can be subverted through agency and subjectivity. In addition, they claim that agency over one’s role and identity is essential to practice who we are and how we want to be. This approach may also be applied to the performance of motherhood, which has been ruled by patriarchal notions for many years. Its subjective and liberating experiences can be brought forth if one studies the concept of mothering through the lens of female individual experience. Keeping in mind, this paper proposes to bring out the subjective experiences of mothering that challenge the institutional practices (Adrienne Rich’s idea) upheld by society. For this purpose, popular TV dramas such as Friends (1994), Sex and the City (1998), The Big Bang Theory (2007), and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017) are discussed to highlight that mothering can be done in one’s own way. This challenges traditional ideas about motherhood and shows that anyone, regardless of their relationship to the child, gender, or sexuality, can take on a mothering role.