Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering 4

This article springs from research I conducted (2001) on the experiences of mothers whose children of mixed heritage were attending elementary school in southern Ontario, Canada. Using feminist research methodologies, I explored what role, if any, their children’s mixed ethnicity had played in their mothering and in their children’s elementary school experi-ences. In the literature written by mothers of children of mixed heritage, there is often an undeniable emphasis on the physical body, with a particular focus on bodily differences arising from ethnicity. When mother and child physically appear to belong to different ethnic backgrounds, mothers write of their tangled emotions. Thus, being mixed or giving birth to mixed children may bring about a uniquely heightened awareness of the body as body and facial parts are analyzed and examined for the interplay of genetic blends. Participants in this study similarly recounted stories that were rooted in the world of the body. Mothers discussed facial features, skin tones, hair colour, and how each particular child looked, for example, “more Canadian ” or “more Latin. ” This study also suggests that multiracial individuals experience the concept of physical attractiveness in dramatically different ways because images of mixed ethnic identity, robust health and illicit sexual allure are jumbled together in the eyes of the beholder. Participants recounted lived experiences of this stereotype while simultaneously experiencing that surge of maternal pride that has been felt by many mothers of all backgrounds—monocultural, multiracial, or otherwise—whenever her child receives a compliment. “Are you in the kitchen or the living room?” I looked down at my feet. One foot rested on the wooden floor of the living room while the second was on the linoleum of the kitchen