This paper explores how memories and material culture can be used to understand intergenerational teenage motherhood. Intimate, feminist ethnography is used to explore the experiences of my mother and my grandmother who were both teenage mothers. Teenage mothers are blamed for perpetuating a cycle of poverty in the United States by conservative and neoliberal adherents, yet women were young mothers throughout the history of the United States. In their minds, teenage mothers have daughters who become teenage mothers themselves, which then maintains poverty across generations. This project counters that false narrative by focusing on the experiences of intergenerational teenage mothers through the stories they tell related to belongings from their time as young mothers. I argue we need to focus on teenage mother’s needs instead of viewing their circumstances as a ‘problem’ that needs solved.
","abstract_html":"<p>This paper explores how memories and material culture can be used to understand intergenerational teenage motherhood. Intimate, feminist ethnography is used to explore the experiences of my mother and my grandmother who were both teenage mothers. Teenage mothers are blamed for perpetuating a cycle of poverty in the United States by conservative and neoliberal adherents, yet women were young mothers throughout the history of the United States. In their minds, teenage mothers have daughters who become teenage mothers themselves, which then maintains poverty across generations. This project counters that false narrative by focusing on the experiences of intergenerational teenage mothers through the stories they tell related to belongings from their time as young mothers. I argue we need to focus on teenage mother’s needs instead of viewing their circumstances as a ‘problem’ that needs solved.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Christian, Aspen"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master","degree_discipline":"Women's and Gender Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Dana-Ain Davis"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:30Z","subjects":["Social and Cultural Anthropology","teenage motherhood","United States","memory","material cultural","young motherhood"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3203","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Dana-Ain Davis"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Christian, Aspen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-04-29T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Women's and Gender Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social and Cultural Anthropology","teenage motherhood","United States","memory","material cultural","young motherhood"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3203"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This paper explores how memories and material culture can be used to understand intergenerational teenage motherhood. Intimate, feminist ethnography is used to explore the experiences of my mother and my grandmother who were both teenage mothers. Teenage mothers are blamed for perpetuating a cycle of poverty in the United States by conservative and neoliberal adherents, yet women were young mothers throughout the history of the United States. In their minds, teenage mothers have daughters who become teenage mothers themselves, which then maintains poverty across generations. This project counters that false narrative by focusing on the experiences of intergenerational teenage mothers through the stories they tell related to belongings from their time as young mothers. I argue we need to focus on teenage mother’s needs instead of viewing their circumstances as a ‘problem’ that needs solved.
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"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3203"],"dc:subject":["Social and Cultural Anthropology","teenage motherhood","United States","memory","material cultural","young motherhood"],"dc:title":["Intergenerational Teenage Motherhood: Memory and Material Culture"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Women's and Gender Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:30Z"}