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In this paper, we explore the lived experiences of mother-coaches who, while coaching, navigate policy and programs aimed at promoting gender equity. Specifically, this study took place within the context of an amateur national, 10-day multisport games event in Canada. Using critical feminist narrative inquiry, 14 mother-coaches (apprentice, assistant, or head coach), representing eight different provinces, and 10 different sports, participated in this study. Three themes were constructed that call attention to the Canadian sport system broadly, as well as the 10-day multisport games event specifically: (a) performative policies and gendered assumptions, (b) programs that are band-aids for a "shitty culture," and (c) a pathway to nowhere for mother-coaches. The findings complicate the hegemonic work–family conflict narrative, suggesting that mother-coaches' advancement, opportunities, and quality experiences are impacted by the current heteropatriarchal culture and structure of sport that these programs and policy are rooted in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing literature provides nascent insights into structural arrangements that shape mothers' experiences of being a sport fan, yet we know little about the social meaning sport fandom holds for mothers. This exploratory study draws on qualitative interviews with 41 mothers from Australia and North America to examine their understandings of sport fandom in the context of their everyday lives and contemporary ideologies about mothering. Findings suggest that sport fandom presents an opportunity for mothers to redefine and transform both fan and mothering practices, thereby challenging popular orthodoxies that fandom becomes less important to women after having children. By foregrounding mothers' efforts to stay engaged with their fandom, we extend research on the experiences of women sport fans and offer alternatives to normative constructs of fandom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the first to examine experiences of women with leadership roles in the U.K. Higher Education sport sector. We carried out detailed interviews with women leaders. We utilized Bourdieu's model of habitus, capital, and field; Acker's concept of "gendered organizations;" and Shilling's concept of physical capital. Our findings show Higher Education operates more inclusively than the wider sport sector, which has the potential to advance gender equality. However, gendered practices remain with women working harder to accumulate and convert capital. Motherhood negatively impacts conversion of capital and respondents without children felt this benefitted their career. Finally, we discuss the impact of menopause on the careers of women and suggest this can impact self-perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postpartum mothers are susceptible to lumbopelvic pain which may be exacerbated by loading, like carrying their infant in arms and with baby carriers. Nulliparous women carrying infant mannequins may biomechanically mimic mother–infant dyad, but this has not been studied. The purpose of our study was to investigate biomechanical differences of 10 mothers carrying their infants and 10 nulliparous women carrying infant mannequins under 3 gait conditions: carrying nothing, carrying in arms, and carrying in a baby carrier (babywearing). Spatiotemporal gait parameters, peak ground reaction forces and impulses, and lower extremity and trunk kinematics were collected using motion capture and force plates and compared using a mixed 2 × 3 (parity × condition) analysis of variance (α ≤.05). The largest differences occurred between carrying conditions: carrying in arms or babywearing increased vertical and anteroposterior ground reaction forces, trunk extension, ankle dorsiflexion, and hip and knee flexion. Kinematic differences were identified between arms and babywearing conditions. Together this suggests alterations in joint loading for both groups. Our study also contributes a novel understanding of postpartum health by demonstrating alterations in step time, anterior forces, and ankle and knee mechanics, suggesting that during gait, mothers carrying their own infants choose different propulsive strategies than nulliparous women carrying mannequins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little evidence is available from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities on the association between motherhood and physical activity (PA). This study aimed to examine independent and joint associations of cultural background and motherhood with meeting PA guidelines, participation in organized sports, and high sitting time (>8 h/d). Methods: We used self-reported cross-sectional data from survey 8 of the 1973–1978 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. PA was measured using the Active Australia Survey while organized sport and sitting time were measured using single items. CALD was defined as being born in a non-English speaking country or primarily speaking a non-English language at home. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analyses were used to examine independent and joint associations. Results: Data from 5967 women (mean age 42.4 [SD 1.5] y, 6.9% CALD, 81.2% mothers) were analyzed. Women of CALD background had lower odds of meeting PA guidelines (odds ratio; 95% confidence interval: 0.80; 0.64–0.98) and participation in organized sports (0.68; 0.54–0.86), but no statistically significant association with sitting time (0.90; 0.72–1.14). Mothers had lower odds of meeting PA guidelines (0.75; 0.64–0.87) and high sitting time (0.42; 0.36–0.49). Compared with non-CALD women without children, mothers (irrespective of cultural background) were less likely to meet PA guidelines and have high sitting time. The association of "cultural background and motherhood" with organized sports participation was only significant for CALD mothers. Conclusions: Increased efforts and investments are needed to ensure that sports and other PA promotion interventions are culturally sensitive and engaging for CALD women and those with children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although liminal theory explains transitional periods in consumers' lives – such as preadolescence – the impact of these transitions on emotionally connected actors and the transformations that the latter endure have been largely overlooked. Through a qualitative study of the mothers of preteen girls, we show that liminality spills over and that mothers transform from fully needed to authoritative-friendly moms. During this process, these mothers engage in spilled-over liminal consumption (SOLC), which comprehends concomitantly loosely and creatively crafted rituals and new and re-signified routines. However, amid the process of assuming a new mother's role and helping their daughters' transformation, these mothers unreflectively reinforce traditional gender norms. Based on our findings, we discuss the process of SOLC and how it ends in reproducing gender and class-based stereotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis article examines the influence of Mormon mommy bloggers (MMBs), as key web architects and content creators starting in the early 2010s. MMBs, referring here to Mormon content creators whose blogs focused on topics such as childrearing, domesticity, and lifestyle themes, were significant players during Web 2.0 through their usage of the longform blog. MMBs transformed the invisibilized domestic labor of mothering and housekeeping into monetizable content within the Mormon blogosphere or “Bloggernacle.” The aspirational monetization and professionalization of the blog offered a tangible occupation for Mormon stay-at-home mothers in a religious culture where working outside the home was discouraged. MMBs, through blogging, attempted to situate themselves not simply as caretakers but enterprising, digital cultural creators aligning themselves with a (neo)liberal feminist ethos of entrepreneurialism and individualistic influencing. Using a corpus of web archives from Brigham Young University’s digital collections, this article enlists the Archives Research Compute Hub (ARCH) to process archival data into derivatives to illuminate this underexplored period of web history, employing the methods of feminist thematic and social network analysis. By combining cultural and quantitative analysis of MMBs, this article highlights how MMBs were crucial creators who paved the way for contemporary trends of feminized influencing and the uneasy blending of feminist and commercial content which has increasingly defined contemporary mother-influencers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impacts of stigma on the lives of pregnant and parenting women with substance use disorder (SUD) and justice involvement. We also uncover how some women were able to cope with adversity and take steps to develop resilience. To guide our research, we combined Bos and colleagues’ stigma theory with Windle’s concept of resilience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 pregnant or parenting women in Western New York to uncover the contextual factors influencing care, resources, and social support. Our findings suggest that the presence of stigma hinders pregnant and parenting women’s access to resources, care, and treatments while reinforcing marginalization, isolation, and continued substance use. Despite these challenges, some participants found ways to navigate and mitigate stigma while promoting resilience. Protective factors and strategies included: maintaining a positive motherhood identity, leveraging social support often outside the nuclear family, and having access to supportive, compassionate justice system resources. Understanding the strategies women with SUD use to overcome adversity can inform approaches that judges, case workers, and health care providers can use to engage and support women in recovery and reduce their experience of stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Background Method Results Conclusions This brief report takes a life course approach to describe how first‐time mothers with low incomes participate in Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) before and after birth.By providing cash assistance to low‐income mothers with children, TANF functions as a major family policy.Population data from a cohort of all births in Oregon across 2016–2017 are linked to TANF participation and employment histories. Centering on the birth event, the study window spanned 24 months before and after the first birth. Multivariate models are used to predict TANF participation around birth. A combination of sequence and cluster analyses illuminate within‐group patterns.Around one‐quarter of low‐income mothers relied on TANF at any time in the two‐year study window with about 70% of those participating in TANF during the 6 months after birth. The most common trajectory pattern (41%) was one of TANF enrollment around birth with high likelihood of exit by 6 months following birth, suggesting TANF may function as a short‐term substitute for paid work, that is, paid leave. Other trajectories were characterized by timing of enrollment (prenatal or postnatal) and duration of participation. Clusters with longer participation were comprised of mothers who were young, single, and with less labor market attachment.The majority of low‐income single mothers who rely on TANF around birth participate in short spells and exit the program within 1 year. As more states implement paid family leave policies, low‐income mothers who previously enrolled in TANF may opt for paid leave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study delves into the lives of transnational families in the UAE, exploring their complex identities using a visual research approach known as the Collage Life Elicitation Technique (CLET). Both the topic and the methodology are framed within a theoretical lens of Verstehen (understanding) with a view to further exploring the lives of transnational families in the context of a pragmatic phenomenology and within the setting of the UAE as a rentier state. The lives of families such as these are characterized by a cross-cultural lifestyle, high mobility and expected repatriation. This paper presents narratives of eight transnational families in the UAE as expressed by the mother of each family unit, and seeks to expand on how these mothers view the identity of their families as expatriates living in the UAE. Findings indicate that these families navigate an intricate world where they are neither entirely of their host country nor of their passport country. The family unit plays a pivotal role in these families' lives, acting as a bridge between their host culture and their home culture, serving as a nucleus for their evolving identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weight stigma is a social justice issue that can lead to weight-based discrimination and mistreatment. In pregnancy, emerging evidence has highlighted that weight stigma predominantly affects individuals who have larger bodies and is associated with postpartum depression and avoidance of healthcare. Racial and ethnic background will influence perceptions of, and responses to, weight stigma and therefore it is necessary to ensure diverse voices are represented in our understanding of weight stigma. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten women who were within one year postpartum; nine identified as Black or African American and one as Hawaiian. Thematic analysis led to identification of three themes: (1) sources of weight stigma and their response to it, (2) support systems to overcome weight stigma, and (3) intersectional experiences. Women reported that sources of weight stigma included unsolicited comments made about their weight often coming from strangers or healthcare professionals that resulted in emotional distress. Support systems identified were family members and partners who encouraged them to not focus on negative remarks made about weight. Intersectional accounts included comparing their bodies to White women, suggesting that they may carry their weight differently. Women shared that, although they felt immense pressure to lose weight quickly postpartum, motherhood and childcare was their utmost priority. These findings inform further prospective examination of the implications of weight stigma in pregnancy among diverse populations, as well as inform inclusive public health strategies to mitigate weight stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In rural Sri Lanka, marital tension, frequently leading to violence, is an increasing problem. This article explores how the house becomes both the source of problems and a possible solution to them. By examining the way that the social, material, and symbolic dimensions of houses are made to interact, I show how women effect the shaping of social relations and homemaking. Specifically, I focus on how houses become spaces where women are expected to embody the ideals of wifehood and motherhood, thereby creating and maintaining a 'good house'. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted over fourteen months in a rural village, I illustrate the ways in which women actively engage in strategies to construct and preserve their houses as spaces free from violence. I describe how women, in addition to their traditional caregiving roles, employ the science of architecture (vāstu vidyava) to restructure their houses as a way to promote peace and prosperity. As a result, houses emerge as strategic allies in women's lives, facilitating their pursuit of the desired 'good life'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the literary mother figures in Caryl Phillips' novels The Final Passage (1985) and The Lost Child (2015) through the critical lens of matricentric feminism, focusing on patriarchal notions of motherhood including normalisation, idealisation, depoliticalisation and naturalisation. Extensive research has been conducted on these novels, but their representations of mother characters have remained relatively under-explored. With the aim of addressing that gap in the literature, we argue that Caryl Phillips problematises idealised, universal and traditional conceptions of motherhood by offering multiple and, particularly, otherised mother figures in these novels. Deconstructing such conceptions of motherhood, he exposes the socio-political and economic inequalities arising from racial discrimination, class inequalities, patriarchal oppression and colonial experiences that affect his characters' mothering adversely. Through an intersectional reading of the mother characters in these two novels, this study aims to highlight the characters' complexities and significance, thereby contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the novels and enriching the discourse surrounding the representation of motherhood in literature and culture. A comparative study of these novels further reveals that they encompass various settings for multiple depictions of motherhood and different stages of imperialism, presenting haunting continuities and discontinuities in different centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines Constance Debré’s Love Me Tender (2020) through the prism of transgression. If overstepping boundaries is intrinsic to transgression, the protagonist oversteps many of the culturally constructed limitations on behaviours expected of women at midlife. Rejecting every conventional aspect of her former life—her heterosexuality, her job, her family, her home, her marriage and her possessions—she appears to be the ultimate transgressive midlife woman. Yet, as this article will argue, the protagonist’s transgression is most clearly identifiable in the cumulative impact of her actions within the specific context of her quest for access to her eight-year-old son. As the narrative traces the protagonist’s relationship with her son as it is affected by a bruising judicial battle for her parental rights, Love Me Tender dialogues with other cultural representations of the maternal experience and contributes to the discourse around queer mothering. In its presentation of an alternative model of motherhood it asks the reader to consider not only the role that the French state plays in establishing and maintaining a universal ideal of the mother–child relationship which underpins the perceived boundaries of what is deemed to be a good mother but also what the consequences should be for the transgression of these boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify the individual- and community-level determinants of mothers' healthcare-seeking behaviour for children under the age of 5 years with acute respiratory infection (ARI) symptoms in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey datasets from 29 LMICs were used. The study included 16,893 children aged under 5 years with ARI symptoms in the 2 weeks prior to the survey. A multilevel logistic regression model was used to examine associations between individual- and community-level factors with health-seeking behaviour for ARIs. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported as a measure of association. The overall prevalence of healthcare-seeking behaviour for ARIs among children under 5 years in LMICs was 58.83% (95% CI: 58.08, 59.57). Findings showed that mothers with primary or higher education (AOR = 1.20; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.33), and those residing in rich households (AOR = 1.32; 95% CI: 1.18, 1.48), attending antenatal care (ANC) visits (AOR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.31, 1.79) and delivering at a healthcare facility (AOR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.16, 1.41) were more likely to seek healthcare for ARIs. A higher level of community maternal education (AOR = 1.44; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.68) was positively associated with seeking healthcare for ARIs, while a higher level of community poverty (AOR = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.72, 0.96) was negatively associated with healthcare seeking for ARIs. This study revealed that mothers' healthcare-seeking behaviour for ARIs was closely linked to modifiable risk factors, including maternal education, household wealth, use of maternal health services (e.g., ANC), as well as community poverty and literacy levels. Future interventions should consider these modifiable risk factors when developing strategies to improve child health outcomes in LMICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study interrogates media representations of tennis player Serena Williams during the five-month period between her first official match and her first Grand Slam tournament after giving birth. Grounded in literature on coverage of Black athletes, athlete mothers, and Black mothers, a qualitative critical discourse analysis of news articles (n = 61) between December 17 and June 2018 shows that Williams received mostly positive media coverage upon her return to the professional tour. In contrast to previous representations of Williams as "Other" in tennis on account of her position as a Black woman, journalists afforded Williams some of the framing benefits usually exclusive to white athletes and mothers. This study advances academic literature on the intersections of race and gender in sport and (Black) athlete motherhood by demonstrating how motherhood has altered representations of Serena Williams's race and gender in media coverage, subverting traditional representations of her Black female body but emphasizing hegemonic ideals of (white) motherhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a longitudinal and ethnographic study, this research examines how women experience the emotional aspects of their maternal foodwork in England across social classes. Maternal foodwork is linked to guilt and anxiety due to intense gendered and class-related ideals of proper feeding within the context of responsibilising discourses. This article contributes to the literature by introducing a temporal perspective, exploring how emotions beyond anxiety transform as caregiving arrangements evolve over time. It reveals that middle-class mothers adopt a downscaling strategy to counter maternal guilt when maintaining the standards set by intensive feeding ideology proves to be challenging with time. Working-class mothers adopt the same strategy to counteract feelings of inadequacy tied to persistent institutional surveillance and the challenge of embodying middle-class dispositions. The study underscores women's capacity to cultivate agentic responses, albeit within the boundaries of their class habitus, crafting pockets of resistance against intensive feeding ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the reproduction of the practice of 'intensive mothering' as theorised by Sharon Hays via the theoretical lens of Othering. Examining 20 post-abortion narratives that were shared by women living in Perth (Western Australia), I interrogate the Othering practice that distinguishes those who practise intensive mothering and those who cannot or do not, creating a line of division between the 'good mother' and the 'bad mother'. While Othering tends to be examined uni-directionally, along clear boundary lines such as ethnicity and gender, I utilise the concept of the 'arena of Othering'. I argue that the process of Othering excludes some people from participating in abortion discourse while bolstering the image of the responsible Self. By studying abortion narratives, this article contributes to both sets of literature: motherhood and Othering, making possible an interrogation of 'intensive mothering' and offering the alternative 'good enough mothering' to resist Othering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This piece analyzes the way in which women that froze, are considering freezing or are freezing their eggs in Spain think critically about broader reproductive politics in Spain and about assisted reproduction. Drawing partially on previous studies around egg freezing, Thomas Lemke has suggested that cryopreservation practices represent a "politics of suspension" characterized by both reversibility and disposition, and concomitant with broader political inaction (Lemke in Sci Technol Hum Values 48(4):1–27, 2021). Drawing on feminist literature, and on how some of these women think about motherhood, it is relevant to emphasize this 'suspension of politics' that takes place along with a "politics of suspension," meaning that certain matters (such as reproduction and its postponement) are only to be dealt with privately and individually, through marketized fertility preservation programs in this case. Some of the women interviewed describe these programs as useful tools within a problematic context: technologies that give time in a context that leaves them on their own to figure out motherhood (or its absence) in the midst of uncertainty and loneliness. This paper shows their critical views on these matters, while reflecting on how their experiences and desires become increasingly imbricated with the fertility industry in the making of their reproductive biographies (Perler and Schurr in Body Soc 27(3): 3–27, 2021). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore the recalled experience of pregnancy and motherhood in women diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) without intellectual disabilities, focusing on sensory perceptions and mood. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated, through an ad-hoc structured interview, the sensory sensitivity during the pre-partum, the peri-partum, and the post-partum of thirty-three mothers with ASD and thirty-two neurotypical mothers. Participants also underwent a psychometric assessment about autistic traits, general sensory sensitivity, and post-partum depressive symptomatology. Results: Mothers with ASD recalled a higher sensitivity than the comparison group across the three time-points; however, during the peri-partum their recalled hypersensitivity decreases, and in the post-partum it returned as high as before childbirth. The difference in the length of recall between groups did not statistically influence our results. Higher levels of autistic traits correlated with higher depressive post-partum symptomatology. Conclusions: Mothers with ASD seem to recall their experience of pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum period differently from neurotypical mothers, particularly in terms of hypersensitivity. The correlation with depressive symptoms and the potential role of oxytocin and of long-term memory (encoding and recollection) are discussed. Further exploring these aspects might give fundamental hints to provide tailored support to mothers with ASD during pregnancy and motherhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This five-year randomised controlled trial explored the impact of the Lifestart home visiting parenting programme, on parent and child development outcomes. The Lifestart Programme is a universal and structured child-centred programme of information and practical activity for parents of children aged from birth to five years of age. In total, 424 parents and children participated, and outcomes were measured at pre-test (child age < 12 months), mid-point (age 3) and post-test (age 5). Compared to the control group, parents who received the Lifestart programme reported reduced parenting related stress, increased knowledge of their child's development and improved confidence in their parenting role. There was no evidence of any change in child development outcomes (i.e. cognitive, behavioural, social or emotional development) and there was no clear evidence of any consistent differential programme effects in relation either to gender, first time motherhood, high pre-test anxiety or low maternal education. The results are commensurate with findings from other evaluations of similar programmes and are aligned to the hypothesised theory of change. The study contributes to the limited knowledge on solely home visiting, universal parenting programmes on parent and child outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensive motherhood is a pervasive discourse that enables and constrains mothers' choices. However, intensive motherhood does not only affect mothers; it teaches each of us how we should judge a mother's goodness. In this essay, I use autoethnographic moments of my life to explore how good mothers enact intensive motherhood discourse, highlighting how difficult it will be to undo the material effects of a discourse like intensive motherhood. Still, I argue that identifying how mothers have been made facilitates how to make mothers differently, offering hope that these hurtful discourses can be altered toward something better, however slowly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible Summary: What is known on the subject?: New parents who have previously experienced psychosis outside and/or following childbirth have an increased likelihood of experiencing an episode during the postpartum period.The decision to try to conceive can be agonising.Receiving care from a specialist perinatal community mental health team can improve outcomes. What does this paper add to existing knowledge?: This article offers a first‐person insight into the steps the author took to minimise the impact of an episode of postpartum psychosis and/or postnatal depression whilst navigating new motherhood. What are the implications for practice?: This lived experience narrative aligns with the evidence base that demonstrates specialist perinatal community mental health services improve outcomes.It highlights the importance of maternity care providers asking about mental health history to identify any previous episodes or family history and offering referral to a specialist perinatal mental health service if available. Introduction: Postpartum psychosis is a life‐changing but treatable condition that usually occurs in the first few days to weeks after childbirth affecting 1–2 in 1000 pregnancies. Those who have experienced psychosis before, either as a single episode, related or unrelated to childbirth or as part of a long‐term mental health condition have a higher likelihood of experiencing an episode in the postnatal period. Aim: In this lived experience narrative the author shares personal experience of planning and navigating pregnancy with a higher likelihood of experiencing postpartum psychosis and postnatal depression around this major life transition due to previous episodes. Methods: The author utilises a first‐person approach to share and reflect on her lived experience. Findings: The author shares her experience of receiving care and some of the steps she took to try to manage the impact of pregnancy and birth on her mental health during this major life transition. She describes how care from a specialist perinatal community mental health team and peer support contributed significantly to her family's well‐being. Discussion: Specialist perinatal community mental health services can improve outcomes for those with a higher likelihood of experiencing postpartum psychosis and postnatal depression by facilitating planning and mitigating some of the risks that could lead to relapse in the perinatal period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding disparities in the rates at which men and women's wages grow over the life course is critical to explaining the gender pay gap. Using panel data from 2009 to 2019 for the United Kingdom, we examine how differences in the rates and types of job mobility of men and women—with and without children—influence the evolution of wages. We contrast the rates and wage returns associated with different types of job moves, including moving employer for family reason, moving for wage or career-related reasons, and changing jobs but remaining with the same employer. We find important gender and parenthood differences in the types of mobility experience, with mothers most likely to switch employers for family-related reasons and least likely to move for wage or career reasons, or to change jobs with the same employer. While job changes with the same employer and career related employer changes had large positive wage returns, changing employers for family-related reasons was associated with significant wage losses. We show that differences in job mobility between mothers and other workers are largest for young employees (under 30), the period over which wages also grow most rapidly in response to career related external, or internal, job moves. These mobility differences play an important role in explaining the rapid growth in the motherhood wage gap in the years after birth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From Oliver Twist (1837) to David Copperfteld (1850), Charles Dickens's novels explored the loss of the mother as the inauguration of a state of precariousness that both triggers and hinders protagonists' Bilclung This fundamental rupture with motherhood as both an embodied state and a symbolic personification of the sanctity of the domestic sphere triggers plots of individual development with far-ranging social implications. By expanding the focus on an individual protagonist's misfortunes to aft flictions faced by entire socio-economic categories, wider social critique in the Dickensian novel often relies on the sympathy engendered by the displacement of its vulnerable children. This article explores how Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead (2022), a contemporary novel that revisits the plot of Dickens's David Copperfield in a modern setting, repurposes the social critique of its informing text while producing a politically charged novel in its engagement with problematic constructions of motherhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including "First, I got myself born': A Contemporary Take on Dickensian Motherhood in Demon Copperhead" "Claiming Space: Representations of Female Railway Travelers in Victorian Novels", and "East and West".

Domestic violence (DV) is still a silent public health pandemic globally, more so during the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestic abuse has a well-documented impact on women and its potential transgenerational consequences for their children. However, the influence of DV on a survivor's experience as a parent is rarely studied, especially in developing nations. Through a systematic review, this study aimed to examine and synthesise current global research on DV survivors' experiences regarding their parenting capacities. The objective was to understand how DV survivors perceive how their parenting capacities were impacted by the experience of DV. Five databases were searched between the periods 2010 to 2020. Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Through a thematic analysis of the included articles, three core themes emerged: first, the mothers' state of psychosocial and physical health, exacerbated or associated with the DV experience, holds association with their perceived capacity within a parental role. Second, the influence of DV on motherhood is not necessarily predictive of negative parenting practices but somewhat contingent on the mothers' ability to mobilise supportive internal and external resources, which are often restricted and disrupted by the abusive partner. Last, decisions to leave the abusive partner are complex and subjectively reasoned by the mothers, with a common intention to protect the family. These findings suggest that more comprehensive support and preventative interventions are needed in local communities to create supportive environments that are accessible to mothers who parent in the context of DV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Denmark, parental leave in relation to childbirth has long been a political hot topic. This study adds a new perspective to this issue by examining a newly emergent LinkedIn discourse which we call "maternity leave as upskilling." It presents maternity leave as an opportunity to strengthen women's professional competences. Denmark has seen no noteworthy organic balancing of available leave days between parents, and Danish politicians have long been reluctant to implement earmarked paternity leave. The "upskilling" discourse may therefore constitute a way for working mothers to challenge the hitherto dominant "maternity leave as a gap in the CV" view by aiming to revalue care work as professionally relevant by engaging "neoliberal feminist" language of self-optimization and the capitalization off of personal relationships—here childcare. The women's use of LinkedIn fits neatly with neoliberal feminism's individualization of the "feminist" agenda. This way, the "upskilling" discourse simultaneously transcends the private-public divide, by introducing market metrics, entrepreneurialism, and managerialist lingo into care work, and rearticulates it anew because, through the supposed uniqueness of the skills achieved during maternity leave, motherhood becomes required for women's career success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, significant progress has been made in treatment access for women living with HIV (WLHIV). For example, option B+, which requires that all pregnant persons who test positive for HIV start on antiretroviral treatment, has been instrumental in reducing the risk of vertical transmission. For birthing individuals who have a low HIV viral load, there is a minimized risk of vertical transmission during breastfeeding. However, an alarming rate of WLHIV in South Africa disengage from care during postpartum. Given that work is intricately linked to individuals' socioeconomic status, and thus health outcomes, and their health-seeking ability, it is important to explore the role of work in decisions that impact HIV-related care for the dyad postpartum. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 women living with HIV at 6–8 weeks postpartum in Cape Town, South Africa. A secondary qualitative data analysis was conducted following thematic content analysis. Three themes were identified, spanning participants' financial considerations, navigating childcare needs, and considerations for exclusive breastfeeding. For many participants, there was often a conflict between returning to work, childcare, and the decision whether or not to breastfeed—in addition to their HIV care. This conflict between participants' commitments suggests an increased pressure that WLHIV may face postpartum, which could impact their ability to remain engaged in their healthcare and adherent to medication. Although exclusive breastfeeding is an important recommendation for the baby's health outcomes; there is a need for structural support for WLHIV as they navigate work re-entry during postpartum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paradisical garden of archetypal myth is an image both of the world as it once was and of how it should ideally be. This Arcadian or Edenic space, the 'Happy Garden', is verdant, safe and sunny. Its inhabitants do not have to labour to live; rather, their environment spontaneously provides all that they need, and more. Barbie alters the terms of the expulsion from Eden that lies at the heart of Jewish and Christian accounts of the origin of patriarchy. Barbie leaves voluntarily, unable to remain in a matriarchy that persists in its investment in the forever young, whereas Ken remains in Barbie Land, uneasily reconciled with its restored gender hierarchy. The film is another instance of the power struggle over the meanings, purpose and agency of the female reproductive body, which is to say it is a film about motherhood, non-motherhood and about the female body as it changes over time. In Jewish and Christian myth, pain in childbirth was a punishment for Eve's transgression and the body's reminder of women's subjugation. In Barbie, by contrast, knowledge of those changes and the experience of coping with them is the mark of Barbie's liberation from the space of innocence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How was Barbie discussed on social media after the film's release in July 2023? While a great deal of media and academic commentary offers presumptive answers, to our knowledge no study has sought to address such a question empirically. We examine all posts on Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms that mentioned Barbie during the month of the movie's premiere. Using soft clustering of large language model embeddings, we offer an informed answer to that question. Barbie was discussed in an impressively wide variety of contexts: from co-opting Barbie as a means of boosting sales or one's online following; to celebratory expressions of gratitude and excitement; gendered frames of the movie as feminine success; thoughtful discussions of gender, motherhood and broader questions about who has 'Kenergy' and what constitutes being 'Kenough'. Importantly, these discourses cast doubt on the assumption that criticisms of the movie commanded the public's primary attention online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aimed to explore how different groups of people perceive good mother ideals in China and the cultural and sociodemographic profiles of these groups. Background: Good mother ideals have changed over time and become increasingly complex. The prevalence of intensive mothering has been supported mainly by media representation research and dominated by Western‐focused studies. How tensions between Confucianism and neoliberalism alter the good mother ideas in contemporary China requires further investigation. Method: First, we used an open‐ended survey to collect good mother attributes. Then, we conducted a latent profile analysis with an online survey (N = 449) to divide people into subgroups according to their latent perception structures. Later, we ran multinominal logistic regressions to explore whether cultural values and sociodemographic variables can predict group membership. Results: Collected attributes (N = 1,162) were organized into five categories: neutrality (37.87%), femininity (25.39%), motherhood (11.53%), family responsibilities (6.71%), and childcare responsibilities (18.5%). Moreover, we identified three groups holding different motherhood beliefs: Whatever, Average, and Perfectionist. Young people had higher odds to be in the Whatever group and held more flexible good mother ideals, and married women were 6.69 times more likely to be in the Perfectionist group than single men. Our findings also indicated that people in the Perfectionist group scored higher on attitudes toward family and Asian values. Conclusion: Our research suggested that researchers must distinguish between dominant motherhood representation and lay perceptions of motherhood as well as pay attention to the cultural sensitivity of good mother ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses an Islamic lens to explore the question, What are the identities, aspirations, and motivations for Pakistani and Muslim women learning English? As Muslim women, the research participants had a strong allegiance to motherhood, with children being a motivating factor in learning English. This study explores how motherhood identities and the Islamic faith intersect in powerful ways for Pakistani British women learning English in the United Kingdom. The way that motherhood identity is conceptualised through the Islamic faith for these learners can be invisible to educational institutions and policymakers. The article offers an alternative narrative by directly engaging with women's lived experiences as language learners, as Muslim women and as mothers, thus contributing knowledge from the perspective of the learners, whose voices are often not heard in TESOL debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the literature on mothers of victims and mothers of offenders through a feminist criminological lens. Results of our analysis of 52 articles from a twenty-year period indicated that, though situated on opposite sides of the criminal justice system, aspects of the experiences of mothers of victims and offenders were similar. Specifically, the mothers shared perceived accountability for their offspring's involvement in crime, the burden of care for their offspring, and the negotiation strategies they employed. Our analysis makes visible these mothers as a unique sub-category in the study of crime and proposes a matricentric feminist criminology model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the embodied experience of 25 women who are former cult members. By delving into the stories of three protagonists, we examine how these women engaged with and possibly redefined the cult's socially constructed notion of womanhood. Building on Elizabeth Grosz's theory of subjective embodiment, we demonstrate how these feminine subjectivities were born at the convergence of three distinct forms of authority: charismatic leadership, the influence of Jewish tradition, and the principles of New Age spirituality. Through these lenses, these women formed their own ideals of motherhood and 'maternal instincts, thus subverting the corporal and symbolic norms dictated by the cult. This multi‐faceted approach illuminates how former cult members navigate and resist prescribed roles, ultimately fostering a nuanced understanding of the interplay between authority, tradition, and personal agency in their experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can you be a good parent to a child who, with the current speed of global warming, will likely live their adult life in a world ravaged by floods, wildfires, and pandemics? In the absence of scholarship that centres the question of how to be a good parent in times of climate change, fictional literature can provide a way to explore this dilemma. This article analyzes how parenthood is conceptualized in relation to environmental consciousness as well as gendered and national ideals of good parenthood in two contemporary Swedish climate change novels, Jens Liljestrand’s Även om allt tar slut (Even If Everything Ends) and Anna Dahlqvist’s Det är tropiska nätter nu (Now We Have Tropical Nights). Liljestrand’s novel depicts how ideals anchored in Swedish family politics trump environmental consciousness when it comes to good parenthood, and it suggests that parents need to take responsibility for the climate crisis. The climate-friendly motherhood represented in Dahlqvist’s novel fails, but it also challenges Swedish family ideals and is in some respects an answer to the call in Liljestrand’s novel: that parents take responsibility for climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundMethodResultsConclusionSocial egg freezing (SEF) is a technology that enables women to preserve and store healthy, unfertilised eggs for non-medical reasons, for use later on in life. Despite the growing number of women using this technology, very little research has explored the perceptions of SEF among women from ethnically minoritised backgrounds.The main aim of this study was to advance understandings of perceptions of reproductive timing within British South Asian communities, and in part, focus on women’s perceptions of assisted reproductive technologies in shaping the timing of motherhood. Data collection took place over two qualitative phases: four focus groups (n = 31) and individual interviews (n = 28) and data were analysed using interpretative thematic analysis.The findings in this study demonstrate existence of varied and contrasting perceptions concerning reproductive timing and SEF amongst participants. The analysis developed two overarching themes: (1) Perceptions of SEF as a means of ‘achieving’ motherhood and (2) SEF as challenging normative expectations of reproduction.These findings provide novel insights into how perceptions of SEF are mediated by women’s familial, religious and cultural contexts, shaped by perceptions about the ‘right time’ to have children and normative expectations of how women pursue motherhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This study explored the experiences of women who are academics working in UK higher education (HE), using a feminist approach and narrative methods and analysis. The purpose of the research was to explore the experiences of women, with a view to highlighting potential shared experiences, informing the policies of universities and adding to the body of knowledge on women in HE. Findings include narrative themes around gender roles, male‐dominated academia and life‐stage impact on career. Concluding recommendations include meaningful recognition of pastoral roles and promotion tracks which value these skills and support for women's life stages, including maternity, motherhood, menopause and sandwich caring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transnational motherhood and Latin-American migrants in the U.S. have been explored in the literature primarily in the context of labor migration and marginalized identities. Existing research delves into how mothers negotiate the challenges and opportunities posed by migration in their parenting journeys. However, scholars advocate to look closer at how the social location of individuals create specific sets of experiences. Using the lenses of transnationalism and translocational positionalities, I look at the motherhood identities of 32 mothers in the U.S. who belong to higher socioeconomic levels in Colombia. I find that through their motherhood practices and discourses, participants perform class distinctions to distance themselves from negative stereotypes associated with migrants from Latin America and white U.S. American culture. Addressing the nuances of motherhood, class, and race within the context of migration is a step toward understanding how identities and ideologies transcend transnational boundaries and the role they play in simultaneously fostering and hindering social inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although motherhood plays a meaningful role in the formation of a woman's identity, most studies have focused on the process of identity transformation in the transition to motherhood among non-disabled women; less is known about this process among women with physical disabilities who become mothers. Objective: The present study aimed to understand and describe the subjective experiences of Israeli women with lifelong physical disabilities in their motherhood journey from the perspective of the intersection of their motherhood and disability identities, and from the disability studies approach. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 Israeli mothers with visible lifelong physical disabilities who live in the community and raise their children. Results: Three themes emerged from the interviews: (1) the decision to become a mother: Coping with the disability identity for the first time; (2) The FIRST 3 years: Depending on others as limiting their motherhood identity; (3) after age three: Balancing the motherhood and disability identities. Conclusion: The transition to motherhood led to identity transformation among women with physical disabilities. Becoming a mother increased the tension between dependence and independence in the context of disability, which also influenced the intersection of their motherhood and disability identities and their wellbeing. Practitioners should provide emotional support to mothers with disabilities and help them embrace the positive aspects of each identity and strike a balance between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore sister-as-mother (jieximuzhi) roles in families after the implementation of China's universal two-child (quanmianerhai) and three-child policies (saihaizhengce). By conducting in-depth interviews with 10 sisters from Guangdong Province who fit the sister-motherhood profile, this study investigated their motivations for taking on maternal duties, the characteristics of sister-motherhood roles, and the impact of these roles on the sisters. The results revealed that in families with two or more children, sisters passively assume mother-like responsibilities primarily due to biological age differences and parental neglect, as well as their personal initiative to a certain extent. Additionally, the impact of sister-motherhood roles on sisters includes aspects such as time pressure, financial strain, and increased family intimacy. This study elucidated the phenomenon of sister-motherhood roles that emerge with changes in family structure in China while recognizing the diversity of women's roles within the family, appreciating the challenges faced by sisters in sister-motherhood roles, and providing insights into family labor division and education models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The age of Danish women giving birth to their first child has risen throughout the last 50 years, and the number of women and men who are having their first child when they are at advanced maternal or paternal age is increasing worldwide. Postponing parenthood is not unique to Denmark, as the same pattern is seen especially in other European and Western countries. The aim of this study was in a social media setting to explore reflections on the timing of motherhood among Danish women of reproductive age who not yet had children. Method: This study was a qualitative study based on three online focus groups on Facebook. Twenty-six women of reproductive age discussed the timing of motherhood for three days in January 2020. Data were analyzed using Systematic Text Condensation. Results: Three main themes were identified: 'Life before parenthood', 'To plan for a child' and 'A life without children'. Several external and internal conditions influence whether and if so when women consider becoming mothers. Regarding the biological capacity for having children, women compare themselves with their female relatives and friends and colleagues regarding the social norms surrounding motherhood. Women with no children often experience either positive or negative pressure from family, friends, and colleagues regarding when to have children. Conclusion: Several internal and external considerations influence when and if women become mothers. Social surroundings such as family, friends, and colleagues have an impact on women's reproductive considerations in terms of pressure to have children in the future. Danish women tend to compare their reproductive capacity to their female relatives and compare the social norms surrounding motherhood to their female friends. Women in this study were positive towards discussing the timing of motherhood with other women of reproductive age on social media. Plain english summary: The age of women giving birth to their first child has risen throughout the last 50 years, and the number of Danish women and men having their first child when they are at advanced maternal or paternal is increasing. Postponing motherhood is not unique to Denmark, as the same pattern is seen especially in other European and Western countries. In this study, we explored the reflections on the timing of motherhood among Danish women of reproductive age who had not yet had children. Using a novel approach, we conducted three online focus groups on the social media platform Facebook. Twenty-six women aged 18–43 years without children, regardless of whether they wanted to have children in the future, were included. The study revealed several internal and external considerations influencing when and if women establish a family. Regarding their biological capacity for having children, women tend to compare themselves to their female relatives and their friends and colleagues regarding the social norms surrounding motherhood. Women with no children often experience pressure from family, friends, and colleagues about when to have children, which can be perceived as unfavorable while at the same time being experienced as motivating for planning future motherhood. Women in this study were positive towards discussing the timing of motherhood with other women of reproductive age on social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a self-study exploring the experiences of women leaders, and the intersections of leadership work with roles as mothers. Drawing on narratives of women from across experiences of leading to support women in the workplace, to women who juggle leadership work and mothering, and women whose mothering involves caring for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, we address the dearth in scholarship addressing these positionings and implications for women in leadership. Using self-study as a qualitative approach to bring together three current school leaders and an ex – principal, this study uses autobiographical experiences and shared reflections on blogs and materials accessed through our professional networks to contribute robust and rich analysis of personal narratives on the challenges and opportunities afforded to women in the state school context in England. We apply a conceptual framework of micro-meso barriers to consider the relationship between self and organisation level interactions. Findings contribute strategies from the personal to the organisational, with implications for the ways in which coaching, flexible working and an equitable approach to decision making can be utilised by schools to support and engage women without a sense of compromised leadership practice or motherhood priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease and other dementia have a higher incidence among women and that risk factors specific to the female sex could be involved. Few studies looked into female reproductive factors and their association with dementia in low‐and middle‐income countries. Materials and Methods: We analyzed the baseline data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSI‐Brazil) and included data from 2594 women aged 60 years and older. We used an algorithm approach to determine dementia status and performed logistic regressions using as predictors the self‐reported total length of the reproductive period, total parity and use of hormonal replacement therapy. We also analyzed the effects of hormonal replacement therapy use for different age groups and the effects of number of living children. Results: Reproductive period length, hormonal replacement therapy use and parity as a continuous measure were not significantly associated with dementia status. When compared with 0 births, the group with 5–8 had more dementia while the other groups displayed no differences. For the number of living children, but a higher occurrence of dementia was found among women with more children. Conclusions: We did not find any association between continuous parity, reproductive period length or hormonal replacement therapy use and dementia. Social factors of motherhood appear to play an important role, and group specific effects of parity and hormonal replacement therapy require further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sharenting, the practice of sharing parenting experiences on social media, has become a prevalent mothering practice across the world, including in China. This paper explored how Chinese mothers defined, constructed, and reconstructed their mothering through sharenting. Using a grounded theory approach, we conducted semistructured interviews with 23 urban middle-class mothers in China. Synthesis of the results revealed three distinct functions of sharenting that reflect a unique mixture of Western feminism and Chinese neo-familism: reinforcing mothering and motherhood, extending mothering through sharenting, and redefining mothering through sharenting. Furthermore, three discourses emerged: intensive motherhood, moral motherhood, and scientific motherhood. These findings provide vivid and nuanced evidence about the Chinese ways of shaping mothering through sharenting, deepening our understanding of sharenting as both empowering and oppressing the manifestation of mothering outside Western contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women of color are at least twice as likely as non-Hispanic White women to die during the perinatal period or deliver infants who are low birthweight, preterm, or die within the first year of life. Maternal stress before and during pregnancy is associated with adverse obstetric outcomes. A growing body of literature has explored maternal resilience as protective factors contributing to healthy maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes. However, several gaps exist in how this construct has been conceptualized and operationalized. First, extant research has primarily conceptualized maternal resilience as individual attributes that enable women to "bounce back" after facing adversity during pregnancy, thereby failing to incorporate the broader systemic and environmental factors that contribute to chronic stress, particularly among vulnerable groups. Second, the literature has largely neglected to examine resilience in relation to maternal stress, therefore not acknowledging that women who experience greater stress will likely require more resources. Third, though resilience has been investigated at discrete life stages, longitudinal research has not been conducted to explore how it develops over the lifecourse. This article critically evaluates the resilience literature, expands upon the gaps described, and proposes a conceptual framework that reimagines material resilience using three population health theories, including Bronfenbrenner's socioecological framework, Elder's lifecourse theory, and Geronimus' weathering hypothesis. The proposed framework will inform future research that examines the development of multilevel resilience resources over the lifecourse as well as interventions to increase resilience and ultimately yield healthier MCH outcomes among vulnerable communities. Public Significance Statement: A growing body of literature has explored maternal resilience as protective factors that counter maternal stress and contribute to healthy maternal and child health outcomes. However, several gaps exist in how it has been conceptualized and operationalized. This article contributes to the literature by proposing a conceptual framework that addresses these gaps and reimagines material resilience using three population health theories, including Bronfenbrenner's socioecological framework, Elder's lifecourse theory, and Geronimus' weathering hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States is a global leader in estimated rates of civilian gun ownership, and over the past few years—as the country grappled with a struggling economy exacerbated by a global pandemic—gun‐buying surged. We argue that the COVID‐19 pandemic's economic impact has implications for gun purchasing interest, and this intersects with gendered expectations about familial roles. Integrating sociological scholarship on gender and families with consumer behavior research, and using a preregistered online survey of over 8000 American adults collected in the early months of the pandemic's emergence in the United States (May 2020–June 2020), we hypothesize that men in familial roles may express greater gun interest in response to financial instability, and theorize why such a process may also be observed among women. Analyses show that men's gun interest is unaffected by family roles or financial distress. Women in family roles—mothers, in particular—who experience financial stress, however, are significantly more amenable toward guns than other women and express interest at levels approaching those of men. We discuss how such findings increase our understanding of the heterogeneity of gun owners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]