Displacement of (M)others in Twenty-First Century U.S. Films examines how mainstream cinema marginalizes and misrepresents diverse maternal identities, particularly non-normative mothers. By analyzing film narratives, gaze theory, and economics, the work critiques the exclusion of these "mothers" and explores the broader impact on societal perceptions of motherhood.

Swarnavel Eswaran Pillai, Professor, Michigan State University, USA

Dr. Rodriguez-Colon compellingly situates the complexities of maternal identities within philosophical and cinematic traditions. Looking at how representations of mothers in film continue to be narrowly defined and exclude (m)others, or those who fall outside of culturally prescribed ideals of maternity, Rodriguez-Colon analyzes in detail the multiplicities of maternal subjectivities and maternal gazes on screen. This important contribution to the field makes a provocative link to production economics, examining who benefits from gaze economies and at what cost.

Rachel Epp Buller, Professor of Visual Arts and Design, Bethel College, USA, and editor of Reconciling Art and Mothering (2012)

Jessica M. Rodríguez Colón's meticulously researched and beautifully written book Displacement of (M)others in Twenty-First Century U.S. Films: Impact on Maternal Identities of 'Other' Subjectivities is an important addition to the literature on motherhood, maternity, and visual culture. Rodríguez Colón, not content to reiterate the work of feminist philosophers such as Sara Ruddick or Lisa Baraitser, calls for a consideration of what she has termed (m)others, a group that includes undocumented mothers, LGBTQ mothers, infanticide mothers, imprisoned mothers, mothers of children with disabilities, refugee mothers, diasporic mothers, grieving mothers, and mothers from different ethnic groups whose maternal experiences are situated in the United States of America. In doing so, Rodríguez Colón has deftly acknowledged the importance of previous work on the visual culture of motherhood while charting a path of maternity that exists beyond the material and gendered understanding of what it means to be a mother. This is an important book that will be of interest to feminist scholars, philosophers, visual artists, and filmmakers.

Jennie Klein, Professor of Contemporary Art History, Ohio University, USA