Women's studies, cultural studies. In recent decades, popular culture - from television and film to newspapers, magazines, and best-selling fiction - has focused an enormous amount of attention on mothers. Mediating Moms looks at the ways in which mothers are portrayed, idealized, and criticized by the media as well as how mothers negotiate these images and how critics and scholars strengthen and alleviate the tensions between representation and reality. Contributors from Canada, the United States, Britain, and Australia examine a variety of topics such as teen and post-menopausal pregnancies, lesbian parenting, adoption, breast-feeding, and post-partum depression. Engaging critically with stereotypes perpetuated by popular culture, Mediating Moms maps some of the provocative and liberating ways mothers can use the media to transform and reaffirm their identities.