Becoming a mother changes lives in many ways, Making Sense of Motherhood is an original and accessible book which explores how women try to make sense of, and narrate their experiences of first-time motherhood in the Western world.
Tina Miller pays close attention to women's own accounts, over time, of their experiences of transition to motherhood and shows how myths of motherhood continue because women do not feel able to voice their early (often difficult) experiences of mothering.
The book charts the social, cultural and moral contours of contemporary motherhood and engages with sociological and feminist debates on how selves are constituted, maintained and narrated. Drawing on original research and narrative theory, the book also explores the disjuncture that often exists between personal experience and public discourse and the cultural dimensions of expert knowledge.
- Pays close attention to women's own accounts over time of their experiences of transition to motherhood, using a narrative approach.
- Contributes to debates on reflexivity and gender - and the obdurate myths of motherhood.
- Shows how cultural scripts shape expectations and experience in the West and the developing world, in relation to mothering and motherhood.
