Plant Parenthood: A Potted History of Vegetal Reproduction and (M)otherhood

For centuries, scientific, literary, and artistic narratives of plant reproduction have been utilised to oppress those not identified as white, male, and heterosexual. But alongside this oppression, vegetal sexualities and modes of parenthood have always simultaneously posed a disrupting force, pushing tendrils of plurality into binary systems, flourishing resolutely in the cracks of accepted conceptions of gender roles, motherhood, sexuality, and parental responsibility within the colonial-patriarchal system.

Taking a cue from horror-genre representations of uncontainable plants, the swollen pregnant body, and the bloody blossoming of childbirth, this lecture weaves a path through Victorian notions of “mothering” houseplants, mythical pregnant trees, self-fertilising shrubs, and Indigenous relations of “multi-maternal” care for children and plants. An ecofeminist perspective is used throughout to track some of the ways in which, together, plant knowledge and (m)otherhood might offer ways to disrupt damaging societal norms.

We are committed to making our sessions as accessible as possible. If you are unable to pay the full amount for this class, please reach out to us via email at [email protected] and we will provide you with a discount code.