Gender and Women's Studies

The visual culture that created Diana was motivated by Victorian constrictions of motherhood that enforced notions of stability and lineage. This article examines the cultural metaphors of nurturance-the "Madonna redux phenomenon"-in images of Diana, and in her predecessor Princess Alexandra. I argue that images of royal motherhood are staged affairs, constructed and performed as part of the Princesses' main role as dutiful and loving mothers. Finally, I point up how moments of agency can be achieved within these images and how Diana, "the postfeminist princess," embraced these moments.

Discourse about the skewed child sex ratio in India has given insufficient attention to individual mother's stories about raising daughters. The narratives women tell one another can
have long-term impact, as new models of the family are slowly produced by a discursive emphasis on daughter's strengths. This micro-regional pilot study based on 25 interviews with
mothers in Andhra Pradesh was undertaken to learn what women felt were the most crucial actions to erode son preference. Families were focused on daughters as bearers of family
honor and fearful that daughters will be endangered in public spaces. According to the mothers, the two most important steps to address the daughter deficit are aiding women's economic independence and modifying men's set ideas about women's capabilities and value.