My Account Log in

1 option

Reimagining stepmother : a feminist analysis of step(m)otherings / Patrycja Sosnowska-Buxton.

De Gruyter Bristol University Press/Policy Press Complete eBook-Package 2025 Available online

View online
Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Sosnowska-Buxton, Patrycja, author.
Series:
Sociology of children and families series.
Sociology of children and families
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Stepmothers--Great Britain.
Stepmothers.
Stepfamilies--Great Britain.
Stepfamilies.
Physical Description:
1 online resource (vi, 183 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).
Edition:
1st ed.
Place of Publication:
Bristol : Bristol University Press, 2025.
Summary:
Based on interviews with British stepmothers, this book uses a feminist sociological lens to reimagine their roles and practices. Combining firsthand accounts, it explores stepfamily dynamics and how stepmothers navigate them, offering new insights into gendered and social structures in contemporary stepfamilies.
Contents:
Front Cover
Half Title
Series Information
Reimagining Stepmother: A Feminist Analysis of Step(m)otherings
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction: 'Mirror, Mirror on the Wall …'
My step(m)othering
Researching stepmothers
Book outline
2 Theorizing Stepmothers
The invisible stepmother
The wicked stepmother
The natural stepmother
The idealized biological mother
The biological nuclear family bias
Gaps in research
Finding my position
3 Stepmothers and Stepfamilies in European Histories and Family Law(s)
Introduction
What's in the name: stepmothers and stepfamilies from the Middle Ages to contemporary Europe
Legally speaking: stepmother in past and present European family laws
Conclusion
4 Reimagining Stepmothers, Stepmotherhoods and Stepmotherings
Reimagining stepmothers: identities, transgressions and stepmaternal power(lessness)
Vicky
Fran
Amanda
Stepmothering in complex residency and legal status arrangements
Suzy
Irene
Monica
Steprelationships as a multifocal process in flux
Jane
Emma
Gill
5 Stepmothers' Kinwork in/for Wider and Multigenerational Stepfamily
Invisible kinwork: biological/adoptive fathers and children
The first meeting
Preparing for the role of stepmother
Handling conflicts
Different planets
Keeping the door open
Not taking sides
Stepmothers' biological families' importance for stepfamilies
Biological parents who built bridges
The biological mothers who were stepmothers
Stepmothers' in-law families as 'lynchpins' of step/.families
6 Unorthodox Ways of Doing Stepfamily
'Communication breakdown' in dealing with their stepchildren's biological/.adoptive mothers
Diana.
Stepmothers and biological mothers making their relationships work
Nina
Donna
Exclusion of parents-in-law
Dawn
Alison
7 Conclusion: Stepmothers Reimagined
Socio-historical context of stepmothering in patriarchal structures
Step(m)otherings
Reimagining stepmother through a feminist lens
Notes
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 6
References
Index.
Notes:
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 12 Sep 2025).
Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.
ISBN:
1-5292-3703-3
1-5292-3702-5
OCLC:
1519122839

The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.

Find

Home Release notes

My Account

Shelf Request an item Bookmarks Fines and fees Settings

Guides

Using the Find catalog Using Articles+ Using your account