Unwomanly Conduct: The Challenges of Intentional ChildlessnessExamines how the decision by some women not to become mothers challenges the meaning of the word woman in our society. This study is based on extensive interviews with 34 married women, ranging in age from 40 to 78, who have made the choice to be childless. |
From inside the book
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Page 2
... important work in the family circle . Maternalism— the notion that femaleness is rooted in motherly qualities so that women must become mothers in order to realize themselves3 - is a central feature of the most recent backlash against ...
... important work in the family circle . Maternalism— the notion that femaleness is rooted in motherly qualities so that women must become mothers in order to realize themselves3 - is a central feature of the most recent backlash against ...
Page 20
... important to all women who are or consider being intentionally childless . Maternalist ideology , discourses of deficiency and regret , conflicts with friends , concerns about a future without the social support of children , are important ...
... important to all women who are or consider being intentionally childless . Maternalist ideology , discourses of deficiency and regret , conflicts with friends , concerns about a future without the social support of children , are important ...
Page 126
... important to obtain one's own . It is not enough to appreciate and enjoy children for their own sake ; one must come to possess one or more . This idea is apparent in the passage by Robert Edwards quoted earlier . He refers to couples ...
... important to obtain one's own . It is not enough to appreciate and enjoy children for their own sake ; one must come to possess one or more . This idea is apparent in the passage by Robert Edwards quoted earlier . He refers to couples ...
Contents
She thought I was some kind of ogre that eats | 71 |
The thought will I regret it when Im old? | 89 |
The contrast between their lives and your life | 111 |
Copyright | |
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Other editions - View all
Unwomanly Conduct: The Challenges of Intentional Childlessness Carolyn Mackelcan Morell Limited preview - 1994 |
Unwomanly Conduct: The Challenges of Intentional Childlessness Carolyn Mackelcan Morell Limited preview - 2014 |
Unwomanly Conduct: The Challenges of Intentional Childlessness Carolyn Mackelcan Morell No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
activities Adrienne Rich African-American asked assumptions baby behavior bell hooks career Carol Gilligan Carole Cathy Guisewite challenge chapter child Childfree childrearing choice constructed context couple cultural decision described desire discourses dominant Duchess of Windsor Elaine emotional experience feel felt female feminine Feminism feminist friends friendships gender gender roles going husband ideology intentionally childless women interests Journal kids marriage married maternal maternalist mean Midlife moral motherhood mothers and not-mothers Nancy Chodorow narrators never norms not-mothering women notion nurturing parents participants patriarchal Patricia Hill Collins pets political poststructural Press psychological regret reinforces relationships remain childless reproductive difference responsibility role sample Sara Ruddick selfish Shulamith Firestone social practices spoke stories Susan symbolic talk things thought tion University Weedon woman women I interviewed Women Without Children words writing York