Intensive Mothering: The Cultural Contradictions of Modern Motherhood

Intensive Mothering: The Cultural Contradictions of Modern Motherhood PDF Author: Linda Rose Ennis
Publisher: Demeter Press
ISBN: 1926452712
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Sharon Hays’ landmark book, The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood, this collection will revisit Hays’ concept of “intensive mothering” as a continuing, yet controversial representation of modern motherhood. In Hays’ original work, she spoke of “intensive mothering” as primarily being conducted by mothers, centered on children’s needs with methods informed by experts, which are labourintensive and costly simply because children are entitled to this maternal investment. While respecting the important need for connection between mother and baby that is prevalent in the teachings of Attachment Theory, this collection raises into question whether an over-investment of mothers in their children’s lives is as effective a mode of parenting, as being conveyed by representations of modern motherhood. In a world where independence is encouraged, why are we still engaging in “intensive motherhood?”

Intensive Mothering: The Cultural Contradictions of Modern Motherhood

Intensive Mothering: The Cultural Contradictions of Modern Motherhood PDF Author: Linda Rose Ennis
Publisher: Demeter Press
ISBN: 1926452712
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 372

Get Book

Book Description
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Sharon Hays’ landmark book, The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood, this collection will revisit Hays’ concept of “intensive mothering” as a continuing, yet controversial representation of modern motherhood. In Hays’ original work, she spoke of “intensive mothering” as primarily being conducted by mothers, centered on children’s needs with methods informed by experts, which are labourintensive and costly simply because children are entitled to this maternal investment. While respecting the important need for connection between mother and baby that is prevalent in the teachings of Attachment Theory, this collection raises into question whether an over-investment of mothers in their children’s lives is as effective a mode of parenting, as being conveyed by representations of modern motherhood. In a world where independence is encouraged, why are we still engaging in “intensive motherhood?”

The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood

The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood PDF Author: Sharon Hays
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300076523
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Working mothers today confront not only conflicting demands on their time and energy but also conflicting ideas about how they are to behave: they must be nurturing and unselfish while engaged in child rearing but competitive and ambitious at work. As more and more women enter the workplace, it would seem reasonable for society to make mothering a simpler and more efficient task. Instead, Sharon Hays points out in this original and provocative book, an ideology of "intensive mothering" has developed that only exacerbates the tensions working mothers face. Drawing on ideas about mothering since the Middle Ages, on contemporary childrearing manuals, and on in-depth interviews with mothers from a range of social classes, Hays traces the evolution of the ideology of intensive mothering--an ideology that holds the individual mother primarily responsible for child rearing and dictates that the process is to be child-centered, expert-guided, emotionally absorbing, labor-intensive, and financially expensive. Hays argues that these ideas about appropriate mothering stem from a fundamental ambivalence about a system based solely on the competitive pursuit of individual interests. In attempting to deal with our deep uneasiness about self-interest, we have imposed unrealistic and unremunerated obligations and commitments on mothering, making it into an opposing force, a primary field on which this cultural ambivalence is played out.

Taking the Village Online

Taking the Village Online PDF Author: Lorin Basden Arnold
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781772580822
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The contributing authors in this anthology address diverse topics in mothering and social media, including framing of stepmothers in online forums, mothering in the digital diaspora, the construction of the "bad mother" on Twitter, immersive gaming and parenting classes, virtual mother outlaws, alternative mothering websites, feminist parenting, and more. While the works are primarily rooted in critical and feminist perspectives, a variety of methodologies and approaches to studying mothering and social media are represented in this text, and encourage a robust and thoughtful examination of the role of interactive media in the maternal experience. Lorin Basden Arnold, Ph.D. is a family communication and gender scholar. Her recent scholarly work has primarily related to understandings and enactments of motherhood.

Militant Lactivism?

Militant Lactivism? PDF Author: Charlotte Faircloth
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 0857457594
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
Following networks of mothers in London and Paris, the author profiles the narratives of women who breastfeed their children to full term, typically a period of several years, as part of an 'attachment parenting' philosophy. These mothers talk about their decision to continue breastfeeding as 'the natural thing to do': 'evolutionarily appropriate', 'scientifically best' and 'what feels right in their hearts'. Through a theoretical focus on knowledge claims and accountability, the author frames these accounts within a wider context of 'intensive parenting', arguing that parenting practices – infant feeding in particular – have become a highly moralized affair for mothers, practices which they feel are a critical aspect of their 'identity work'. The book investigates why, how and with what implications some of these mothers describe themselves as 'militant lactivists' and reflects on wider parenting culture in the UK and France. Discussing gender, feminism and activism, this study contributes to kinship and family studies by exploring how relatedness is enacted in conjunction to constructions of the self.

Modern Motherhood and Women’s Dual Identities

Modern Motherhood and Women’s Dual Identities PDF Author: Petra Bueskens
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317195450
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Why do women in contemporary western societies experience contradiction between their autonomous and maternal selves? What are the origins of this contradiction and the associated ‘double shift’ that result in widespread calls to either ‘lean in’ or ‘opt out’? How are some mothers subverting these contradictions and finding meaningful ways of reconciling their autonomous and maternal selves? In Modern Motherhood and Women’s Dual Identities, Petra Bueskens argues that western modernisation consigned women to the home and released them from it in historically unprecedented, yet interconnected, ways. Her ground-breaking formulation is that western women are free as ‘individuals’ and constrained as mothers, with the twist that it is the former that produces the latter. Bueskens’ theoretical contribution consists of the identification and analysis of modern women’s duality, drawing on political philosophy, feminist theory and sociology tracking the changing nature of discourses of women, freedom and motherhood across three centuries. While the current literature points to the pervasiveness of contradiction and double-shifts for mothers, very little attention has been paid to how (some) women are subverting contradiction and ‘rewriting the sexual contract’. Bridging this gap, Bueskens’ interviews ten ‘revolving mothers’ to reveal how periodic absence, exceeding the standard work-day, disrupts the default position assigned to mothers in the home, and in turn disrupts the gendered dynamics of household work. A provocative and original work, Modern Motherhood and Women’s Dual Identities will appeal to graduate students and researchers interested in fields such as Women and Gender Studies, Sociology of Motherhood and Social and Political Theory.

Egg Freezing, Fertility and Reproductive Choice

Egg Freezing, Fertility and Reproductive Choice PDF Author: Kylie Baldwin
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1787564851
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
The ebook edition of this title is Open Access, thanks to Knowledge Unlatched funding, and freely available to read online. This book explores the experiences of some of the pioneering users of social egg freezing technology in the UK and the USA.

All on One Plate

All on One Plate PDF Author: Solveig Brown
Publisher: Paragon House Publishers
ISBN: 9781557789211
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"Reveals the contradictions between cultural and individual ideals of being a good mother and examines the transition to motherhood, division of labor, working out of the home or staying home, the diverse ways mothers oversee the various aspects of their children's lives while fostering achievement, and raising good kids"--

The Reproduction of Mothering

The Reproduction of Mothering PDF Author: Nancy Chodorow
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520221559
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
This text had a major impact on both feminists and psychoanalysts when it was first published, and it continues to shape the thinking of analysts and feminists today.

Mothering in the Age of Neoliberalism

Mothering in the Age of Neoliberalism PDF Author: Giles Melinda Vandenbeld
Publisher: Demeter Press
ISBN: 1927335744
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
Neoliberal policies and austerity measures have unequivocally altered the landscape of women’s lives globally. The most detrimental effect has been on mothers as they are faced with increasing responsibility and decreasing resources. Despite mothers being the primary producers, consumers, and repro- ducers of the neoliberal world, their centrality has been largely silenced within economic discourse. Thus, Mothering in the Age of Neoliberalism calls for a new economic framework to counter the individualized neoliberal model, one in which the needs of mothers and children are prioritized. This volume provides a crucial starting point. By identifying the sources of neoliberal failure toward mothers, we can begin to collectively formulate an alternative paradigm in which mothers’ voices are no longer rendered invisible, but rather predominate in the global landscape.

Marginalized Mothers, Mothering from the Margins

Marginalized Mothers, Mothering from the Margins PDF Author: Tiffany Taylor
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1787564010
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
This volume examines the barriers and borders that marginalize mothers and their efforts to be good mothers and how they mother as a form of resistance to these barriers and borders.