Last week the class presented the books that they had been assigned to read. Each group got up and gave essentially a summary of the book while also teaching the aspects of it that they thought were the most relevant to the class or caught their interest. I was extremely excited to present the book I had read by Deborah Connolly, titled, Homeless Mothers. My group and I had all thought the book was incredibly powerful and really provided us with a very human understanding and face for homeless mothers and the reality of their lives. Various cases and people were examined throughout the book by a social worker. The mothers were all white women who for the most part were raising their children on their own. The book highlighted and examined the realities of these women’s lives prior to being homeless. There were patterns in all of their lives from living in poverty as children, to teen pregnancy, etc. However, what really shocked me was that all of them had experienced some from of physical or sexual abuse or a combination of the two at some point in their lives. Most of them continued to be faced with various forms of abuse into their present day lives as well. It was truly heartbreaking to read about all of the appalling things that these women had been through. Not a single one of them had really been provided with an example of what a”good mother” is or should be or provide for a child. I resent the idea of a cookie cutter type of mother. The notion that there is a correct way to be a mother that is sculpted through various socially constructed ideas instead of by mothers infuriates me. However, I do believe that there are certain aspects of motherhood that pertain directly to the relationship of mother and child that can create a positive child and mother experience, and I truly believe that all of these women were not provided with that relationship in their childhood’s. The lived experiences of these women put into perspective not just the reality of homeless mothers, but the reality of motherhood as something that must be cultivated and taught through example. Women are not born knowing how to be mothers. I know personally that all of the ways that I shaped my own understanding of motherhood and the type of mother that I want to be was through being able to see the mothers in my life deal with raising me. Granted, I am able to know the type of mother that I don’t want to be in some ways through some of the practices used by the mother figures in my life, but if I was only provided with a mother that treated me in ways that I would not wanted to be treated or raised, then I still would lack an understanding of what I did want from a mother and what kind of mother I want to someday be.  These women had nothing to base their motherhood of off, in fact most of them were not cared for a all by their own mothers. Their mothers were either, addicts, emotionally or mentally unstable, not present, etc. It put these women in a extremely confusing emotional place with their children because for mother of them, their children were the first thing in their lives that were their own. This created dependent and in many circumstances unhealthy relationships with their children. The day after my presentation I saw Eve Ensler, (the write of the vagina monologues, writer, performer, activist, etc.) speak at my school. She spoke about the crippling effects of oppression and violence towards women on our society and on the women within it. I couldn’t help but connect the ways that she spoke about the abuse in her own life and the lives of the women that she had traveled the world meeting, to the lives of the women in the book. The whole experience really allowed me to think about the lives of these women as mothers and as victims in a very real way. I feel as if in many circumstances violence towards homeless women and mothers is explained as something that is happening in this very separate world from our own. This book and Eve Ensler really put into perspective the reality of how abuse, oppression, and homelessness can happen to anyone. It really made me think about things as both a bigger picture and on a personal level. I was extremely happy to have been able to see Eve Ensler speak, because it connected a lot of the realities of these women’s lives to the reality of the struggles of women everywhere. It made their issues seem less like as result of homelessness and addiction, but one of the severe misfortunes and abuse that tainted their early lives.