Contemporary family constructs & motherhood

Married and civil partner couple families were the most common family type in the UK in 2018, representing two-thirds (67.1%) of all families.

Cohabiting couple families were the second-largest family type at 3.4 million (17.9%), followed by 2.9 million (15%) lone parent families.

Since 2008, the share of married couple families has declined from 69.1% of all families, while the share of cohabiting couple families has increased from 15.3%.

Married or civil partner couple families remain the most common type of family in which dependent children live (63.5%), followed by 21.1% in lone parent families and 15.3% in cohabiting couple families. Cohabiting couple families have had the largest statistically significant percentage increase of those families with dependent children at 23.9% in the decade 2008 to 2018, rising to 1.3 million in 2018.

The introduction of same-sex marriages in March 20142 has led to rapid growth in same-sex marriage couple families. Since 2017, the number of same-sex marriage couple families has doubled to 68,000 (a statistically significant increase) representing 29.4% of all same-sex couple families in 2018 compared with only 8.9% in 2015

This contrasts to opposite-sex couple families in which 79.4% are married couple families and 20.6% are cohabiting couple families. The trends for opposite-sex and same-sex couple families are going in opposite directions, with the share of opposite-sex married couple families decreasing, while opposite-sex cohabiting couple families are increasing (although at a much slower rate of change than for same-sex couple families).

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/bulletins/familiesandhouseholds/2018

what about feminism?

• socio-cultural factors such as the social construction of motherhood & parenting are contributing to the deteriorating psychological and physical health of women & families (Sarafino 2005)
• Care should be taken to understand the historical path of the social construction of motherhood and the current/future influences
• We should support each other and parents by offering listening services e.g. narrative therapy, feminist therapy and practical support

experts

idealisation -

literature

professionals

professional mothers

History

The idealisation of motherhood is a concept which has followed the historical social constructions of the definition and continues to persist today.

Historically knowledge of motherhood came from the community and local culture. This was still socially constructed and enforced but the context appropriate

Education

High morbidity and mortality in the developing world and the rise in globalisation and pursuit for global health influence the constructs of motherhood by 'training' and importing educated lay-people or professionals

influences -

Technology

what is the impact?

Rubin (1984) suggests that motherhood is a symbol of:

"untainted humanity so powerful as to inflate a century of European writers, philosophers, and thinkers - an inspiration to men such as Freud, Darwin, Marx and Engels (p.50)

when women are urged to adopt deliberately certain styles of mothering another element is introduced into the relationship with their child, one of a goal which should be reached - a standard of which it is all too easy to fall short.

This can make mothering a self-conscious, joyless and even painful task in which a woman labours with the burden of her own inadequacy

Kitzinger (1978 p20)

The ever increasing rise of technology and research, coupled with expectations has lead to intense management and control over mothers and mothering. Women are fed through the factory of maternity care armed with appropriate 'knowledge and information' on how to be a good mother

what other factors influence our perceptions of motherhood?

Images of motherhood

technology

ever shifting realities:

Questions:

What is motherhood?

How would you define a mother?

Contemporary family constructs, gender & motherhood:

Kitzinger (1978):

Good mother/bad mother?

A great deal of what we take for granted as 'natural' in mothering is not natural at all, but a product of culture

parenthood:

a biological destiny or a social choice?

Current trends in parenting such as lone parenting, working mothers, lesbian mothers, and other mothering situations which fall outside the traditional definition of motherhood, have further complicated the process of role definition. Arendell (2000) referred to these developing trends of motherhood as the "deviancy discourses of mothering" (p1192)

When a woman perceives herself as not having achieved the standard of what it means to be a good mother, regardless of how the role is defined, the result is feelings of guilt, shame, blame and marginalisation

(Allan 2004)

a statement:

Adriene Rich (1976 p11) wrote

"all human life on the planet is born of woman"

https://create.kahoot.it/share/4026ef70-72af-4cb7-986c-c112d355b53b

Choice, liberation from female biology

has liberation been achieved?

Family perspectives:

a few messages:

A family is a married, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with or without children, or a lone parent, with at least one child, who live at the same address. Children may be dependent or non-dependent.

Office of National Statistics definition (UK):

• motherhood is socially constructed as an idealised role/institution
• such idealisation may impact negatively on women/mothers
• parenting in an increasingly expert world can be challenging
• Western cultures can pull parents away from instinctive mothering
• read a good book on the subject!

Family concepts

Family statistics UK (2018)

References/reading list

Find out more here:

Allan J (2004) Mother blaming: a covert practice in therapeutic intervention Australian Social Work, Vol. 57, pp57-70

Arendell T (2000) Conceiving and investigating motherhood: the decade's scholarship. Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 62, pp1192-1207

Kitzinger S (1978) Women as mothers, Glasgow, Fontana books

Rich A (1976) Of woman born: Motherhood as experience and as institution, New York, Norton and Company

SarafinoE (2006) Health psychology: Biopsychosocial interactions (5th ed) New York, John Wiley & sons.

Hhm...did you learn anything?