“Fuck You Mom” [inscribed on Lady Bird’s cast]. To what extent do the films on this
module suggest that postfeminist culture is a matrophobic culture?
In presenting the complex dynamics of maternal relationships, both Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird
(2017) and Sally Potter’s Ginger and Rosa (2012) accomplish what Lucy Bolton advocates for,
namely that ‘the relationship between mother and daughter needs to be brought out of silence
and into representation’ (42). Contributing to this discourse, Kathleen Rowe Karlyn points out
how even when presented, such mother-daughter portrayals have failed to fully present
‘daughters’ feelings of ambivalence—or outright hostility—toward their mothers’ (28).
However, Gerwig and Potter’s films challenge this, placing these conflicting feelings towards
mothers at their narrative centre. This essay will question the origins of such generational
conflicts, exploring postfeminist critical theory and the concept of matrophobia within the
differing contexts of these films. Initially coined by poet Lynn Sukenick, the concept of
matrophobia was expanded upon by Adrienne Rich, who described it as daughters developing
‘the fear not of one’s mother or of motherhood but of becoming one’s mother’ (235). This fear
is portrayed visually and narratively through the storylines of Lady Bird, Ginger, and Ginger’s
best friend Rosa, each striving to resist a fate that resembles their mother’s. These daughters
pursue this by focusing on individualism, choice, and empowerment, themes Rosalind Gill
identifies as central to postfeminist sensibility (149). Moreover, I will explore the impact of
differing generational perspectives, focusing on how mothers’ oppressive views on their
daughters’ attempts to assert their agency contribute to the generational conflict. Furthermore,
to understand the link between postfeminist culture and matrophobic culture, this essay
examines how identity construction, paternal relationships, and female genealogies contribute
to the matrophobia that shapes these mother-daughter relationships.
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, With Ginger and Rosa unfolding in 1962 London amidst the Cuban missile crisis and Lady
Bird capturing the zeitgeist of the turn of the millennium in Sacramento, both protagonists are
positioned within distinct feminist contexts. Despite this, both films similarly depict adolescent
daughters as empowered and agentic, attitudes Rowe Karlyn argues to be forms of matrophobia
embedded in popular postfeminist culture (qtd. in Handyside 163). With differing worldviews
from their mothers, both protagonists adopt these attitudes to possess individuality and self-
determination, purposefully distancing themselves from what their mothers represent. While
Ginger and Rosa express these attitudes through political activism, going to meetings to avoid
a similar fate to their mothers, Lady Bird also constructs an identity that sets her apart from her
mother, Marion. This is initially evident in Lady Bird’s dyed pink hair, notably different from
her mother’s, underscoring her desire for individuality. According to Ben Stone, this
performative gesture of self-determination aligns with the postfeminist vindication of
girlishness, as seen in the Riot Girl movement, described as ‘transgressive because they were
refusing a corporate view of womanhood’ (qtd. in Stone 10). The film further emphasises this
refusal to conform through Lady Bird’s choice to adopt her name, refusing to be called
Christine, the name her mother gave her. This act of separating herself from the identity
imposed by her mother continues to be threaded throughout the narrative. During an audition
for a play, when asked if Lady Bird is her given name, she confidently asserts, ‘I gave it to
myself, it’s given to me by me.’ This pursuit of individuality through reinvention is further
evident in Lady Bird’s interest in the theatre, where the concept of creating and embodying a
character symbolises her efforts to reshape her identity. Moreover, her persistent effort to set
herself apart from what her mother represents is reflected in her attempt to forge an identity
beyond her family’s economic constraints. This is exemplified by her lie about where she lives
and her persistent desire throughout the film to leave Sacramento, suggesting her attempt to
differentiate herself from Marion and the socioeconomic identity she represents. This
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