Mature Unwed Mothers: Narratives of Moral Resistance

by Linn, Ruth

• ISBN13: 9780306465239
• ISBN10: 030646523X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-12-01
• Publisher: SPRINGER

Summary

This book describes the moral decision-making process toward unwed motherhood based on a fifteen-year longitudinal study of fifty Israeli single women aged 30 and over, each of whom decided to have a child on her own following a short- or long-term relationship with a male partner. The author views these women as conscious resisters to the societal script of marriage-reproduction-motherhood and documents their narratives of moral subjectivity.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction---Motherhood as a New War Zone	1	(3)
Moral Psychology in War	4	(7)
Motherhood as a Moral Position	11	(12)
The ``Separate'' Moral Position	12	(2)
``Separate'' Moral Resistance in War	14	(1)
``Separate'' Moral Resistance in the Family	15	(1)
The ``Connected'' Moral Position	16	(1)
``Connected'' Moral Resistance in War	17	(2)
``Connected'' Moral Resistance in the Family	19	(4)
Motherhood as a Wish	23	(18)
The Wish for a Child	25	(4)
Age 30---A Cut-off Point?	29	(4)
``Thirty-Nothing''?	33	(2)
The Decision to Have a Child	35	(6)
Motherhood as a Decision---1983	41	(24)
The Origin of the Idea of Out of Wedlock Childbearing	44	(2)
Past Abortions	46	(1)
Type of Pregnancy	47	(1)
Expectations Regarding the Child's Gender	48	(1)
Reasons for Planning and Keeping the Pregnancy	48	(2)
Coping with the Consequences of the Action	50	(1)
Childbearing and Self-Satisfaction	51	(1)
The Experience of the Father	52	(2)
Present Dilemmas and Future Orientation	54	(4)
The Economic Dilemma	58	(7)
Motherhood as an Experience---1990	65	(26)
Miri, 43, a Teacher, Mother of a 13-Year-Old Son	65	(5)
Roni, 44, an Artist, Mother of a 14-Year-Old Son	70	(5)
Shimrit, 50, a Clerk, Mother of a 13-Year-Old Son	75	(5)
Tina, 50, a Retired Army Officer, Mother of a Nine-Year-Old Son	80	(3)
Nurit (1990) 50, Elementary School Teacher, Mother of a Seven-Year-Old Son	83	(8)
Motherhood as Development---1997	91	(18)
Ayelet (1983) 37, Mother of a 3-Year-Old Daughter	91	(4)
Ayelet (1990)	95	(7)
Ayelet (1997)	102	(7)
Motherhood as Narrative of Moral Resistance	109	(20)
Women's Narrative of Resistance	116	(1)
Geography of the Possible?	116	(2)
Redefining ``Otherness''?	118	(1)
Liberation from the Other's Discourse	119	(2)
Ways of Facing Conflicts?	121	(1)
A Practice of Preservative Love?	122	(1)
Ways of Living with Others?	122	(2)
Mature Unwed Motherhood as a Missing Text in Therapy	124	(5)
Language	125	(1)
Reality	125	(1)
Self	126	(1)
Truth	126	(1)
Knowledge	127	(1)
Power	127	(2)
Conclusion	129	(20)
Motherhood as a Moral Position	129	(7)
Moral Psychology and Resistance Reconsidered	136	(13)
References	149