7. “I am daughterhood, but I'm non-binary” Mothers and Daughters on Gender, the Family and their Feminist Futures

Abstract

This paper draws from a qualitative, in-depth interview study I conducted with eleven self-identified activist daughters (age 11 – 20) and their mothers/mother figures. I focus on how trans-inclusive feminisms and more flexible notions of gender became recurring themes across these interviews as mothers and daughters experienced intergenerational conflict and collaboration when they imagined what the mother-daughter relationship could look like in a feminist future. Across both trans and cisgender participants, it was through their intergenerational relationships as mothers, daughters, friends, and siblings that they were moved to not only think differently about gender but also make political commitments to make the world better. I turn to feminist affect theory to analyze how mothers and daughters stretch and reify the familiar borders of “mother” and “daughter” as they desire feminist futures but struggle with the cruel optimism of striving for a future they may never reach.