Motherload : Making It All Better in Insecure Times / Ana Villalobos.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Villalobos, Ana, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motherhood.

Mother and child.

Security (Psychology) in children.

Security (Psychology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (297 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In a time of economic anxiety, fear of terrorism, and marital uncertainty, insecurity has become a big part of life for many American mothers. With bases of security far from guaranteed, mothers are often seeking something they can count on. In this beautifully written and accessible book, Ana Villalobos shows how mothers frequently rely on the one thing that seems sure to them: the mother-child relationship. Based on over one hundred interviews with and observations of mothers-single or married, but all experiencing varying forms of insecurity in their lives-Villalobos finds that mothers overwhelmingly expect the mothering relationship to "make it all better" for themselves and their children. But there is a price to pay for loading this single relationship with such high expectations. Using detailed case studies, Villalobos shows how women's Herculean attempts to create various kinds of security through mothering often backfire, thereby exhausting mothers, deflecting their focus from other possible sources of security, and creating more stress. That stress is further exacerbated by dominant ideals about "good" mothering-ideals that are fraught with societal pressures and expectations that reach well beyond what mothers can actually do for their children. Pointing to hopeful alternatives, Villalobos shows how more realistic expectations about motherhood lead remarkably to greater security in families by prompting mothers to cast broader security nets, making conditions less stressful and-just as significantly-bringing greater joy in mothering.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

2. Shielding and Antidote Strategies

3. Compensatory Connection Strategy

4. Light- Motherload Connection

5. Inoculation Strategy

6. Friendship Strategy

7. Light- Motherload Independence

8. Conclusion

Appendix A. Research Participants

Appendix B. Research Methods

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780520959729

0520959728

OCLC:

886107609