Drawing on qualitative interviews with forty middle-class mothers living in Northern Ireland and the US, this book explores the strategies women adopt, as they take on and creatively re-make motherhood in ways which allow them to cope.

Autorentext
LISA SMYTH Lecturer in Sociology at Queen's University Belfast, UK, and has also been a visiting professor at San Diego State University's Department of Women's Studies, USA. She works on issues of gender, reproduction and social change. She has previously published Abortion and Nation.

Inhalt
Acknowledgements Introduction Modernity, Normativity and Recognition Motherhood's Normativity Authentic Motherhood: Expressive Individualism Choosing Motherhood: Rational Planning Balancing Acts: Maternal Pragmatism Conclusion Notes Appendix 1: Participant Information References Index