Thinking about the Baby: Gender and Transitions into Parenthood (Women In The Political Economy) - Hardcover

Walzer, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1566396301 ISBN 13: 9781566396301

Publisher: Temple University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Many new mothers and fathers are surprised at how they change as individuals and as couples after a baby is born. Susan Walzer's interviews explore the tendency for men and women to experience their transitions into parenthood in different ways-a pattern that has been linked to marital stress.

How do new mothers and fathers think about babies, and what is the influence of parental consciousness in reproducing motherhood and fatherhood as different experiences? The reports of new parents in this book illustrate the power of gendered cultural imagery in how women and men think about their roles and negotiate their parenting arrangements.

New parents talk about what it means to them to be a "good" mother or father and how this plays out in their working arrangements and their everyday interactions over child care. The author carefully unravels the effects of social norms, personal relationships, and social institutions in channeling parents toward gender-differentiated approaches to parenting.

About this title

About the Author

Susan Walzer is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Skidmore College.

Edition details

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1566396301
• ISBN 13: 9781566396301
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 209