Matrescence and media

‘Matrescence – the time of mother-becoming’ (Citation1975, 66) coined by the anthropologist Dana Raphael is defined as the process of becoming a mother. The word describes the physical, psychological, and emotional changes experienced during the significant transformation that is motherhood. This special issue of the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media uses matrescence to refer to the experience of becoming a mother rather than parturition as not all people who become mothers go through childbirth. Same-sex couples, trans women, people who adopt a child or use a surrogate may not go through the physical act of childbirth but can experience matrescence. This issue draws from feminist philosopher Sara Ruddick (Citation1989), who shifts the understanding of the word mother from a noun to a verb, in doing so, maternal practice may be understood as something anyone can do (not just biological or cis-gendered women).