Celebrating the Launch of Damage Magazine's Third Issue for Fall 2024:

MOTHERS

RSVP

Dustin Guastella and Catherine Liu in conversation about “Family Trouble” followed by a Q&A and publication signing

Sat  |  Nov 23  |  4PM

“Damage is the right magazine for this political moment—seeking to recover not only the power of theory, but also the ordinary decency and humanity central to the socialist project.”
– Vivek Chibber, author of The Class Matrix and Confronting Capitalism

The third issue of Damage explores motherhood as a critical lens for understanding some of today's most pressing social crises.

Benjamin Y. Fong's editorial introduction sets the stage for a collection of written reflections on motherhood, gender roles, and family structures. In The Left Should Leave Daycare Advocacy to the Libs, C. Kaye Rawlings critiques the left’s focus on “affordable daycare” as a solution to childcare, arguing it overlooks the devaluation of women’s labor and may even harm children. Jennifer C. Pan revisits Witches, Midwives, and Nurses, examining how women's health activism has lost its anti-authoritarian edge and has been co-opted by the commodification of healthcare. Dustin Guastella suggests that reinvesting in family structures could address broader social crises. Amber A'Lee Frost introduces us to online “trad wives,” reflecting on how traditional gender roles and modern-day lifestyle influencers can obscure the deeper desires for meaningful work and family life. With Frozen Freedom, Amber Trotter critiques egg freezing as a technological solution for women’s reproductive freedom, noting the emotional and social ambivalence it creates, especially among the professional-managerial class. Taylor Hines explores the rise of “dog moms,” where pets increasingly replace children and partners in modern relationships, raising questions about human connection. Mothers Don’t Grow on Trees by Jennifer Bernstein and Justine Karst critiques the popular metaphor of "Mother Trees," arguing that it misleads readers and undermines scientific accuracy in environmental discourse. Benjamin Fife discusses the long history of surveillance technologies aimed at protecting children, questioning how these tools affect the mother-child relationship. Jesse Walker delves into the paranoia surrounding child abuse conspiracies, tracing them back well before modern conspiracy movements like QAnon. In Working Mother, Catherine Liu reflects on the radical feminist work of Susannah Wright.