Motherhood

by Phoenix, Ann; Woollett, Anne; Lloyd, Eva

• ISBN13: 9780803983144
• ISBN10: 080398314X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1991-12-01
• Publisher: Sage Pubns Ltd

Summary

This volume explores the diverse contexts, meanings and experiences of mothering, and reveals how these intersect with prevailing social constructions and ideologies about 'normal' or 'ideal' motherhood.The authors critically examine assumptions that not only underpin 'commonsense' notions about motherhood, but are also produced and reproduced in childcare manuals and theoretical work on mothering. They show how dominant discourses about motherhood both circumscribe and conflict with the range of practices of mothers as they care for their children in real life. The impact of these contradictions are considered for women without children, for mothers who are younger or older than average, for mothers of children with disabilities. It investigates mothering girls as compared to boys, bringing up more than the single child assumed in much childcare literature, and current myths about working mothers.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Psychology And Ideology

Motherhood

Social Construction, Politics and Psychology

Psychological Views of Mothering

The Mandate For Motherhood

Having Children

Accounts of Childless Women and Women with Reproductive Problems

The Social Construction of Motherhood

An Analysis of Childcare and Parenting Manuals

The 'Right Time' To Have Children

Mothers under Twenty

Outsider and Insider Views

Perspectives on Later Motherhood

Mothering Real Children In Real Circumstances

Challenging Motherhood

Mothers and their Deaf Children

Sons and Daughters

Mothering More than One Child

The Question Of Employment

Employed Mothers and the Care of Young Children

Motherhood and Employment

The Impact of Social and Organizational Values

Afterword

Issues Related to Motherhood

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