Becoming a mother: An Australian history

Becoming a mother: An Australian history
ISBN-10
1526161192
ISBN-13
9781526161192
Series
Becoming a Mother
Category
Social Science
Pages
305
Language
English
Published
2023-04-04
Publisher
Manchester University Press
Author
Carla Pascoe Leahy

Description

Becoming a mother charts the diverse and complex history of Australian mothering for the first time, exposing the ways it has been both connected to and distinct from parallel developments in other industrialised societies. In many respects, the historical context in which Australian women come to motherhood has changed dramatically since 1945. And yet examination of the memories of multiple maternal generations reveals surprising continuities in the emotions and experiences of first-time motherhood. Drawing upon interdisciplinary insights from anthropology, history, psychology and sociology, Carla Pascoe Leahy unpacks this multifaceted rite of passage through more than 60 oral history interviews, demonstrating how maternal memories continue to influence motherhood today. Despite radical shifts in understandings of gender, care and subjectivity, becoming a mother remains one of the most personally and culturally significant moments in a woman’s life.

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