Abstract
This chapter focuses on gendered norms of caregiving with regard to parenting practices, focusing on how “mothers” and “fathers” are positioned in parenting discourses. Its placement in a volume on gender and power is pertinent given that we often see gendered stereotypes related to caring come into play in early parenting in what were regarded as “equal” partnerships before children. The chapter moves through a number of areas, using empirical examples. It begins by exploring contemporary parenting culture and parenting ideologies, before considering the discourse of the “maternal.” From here, it moves to a consideration of fathers in the primary caregiving role and how, in these families at least, parenting can be seen as a more equitable, joint “partnership.” Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion of parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns that occurred in many countries across the world, which demonstrated a return to traditional gendered norms of caregiving and had an unequal impact on mothers.
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Locke, A. (2023). Parenting as Partnership: Exploring Gender and Caregiving in Discourses of Parenthood. In: Zurbriggen, E.L., Capdevila, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Power, Gender, and Psychology . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41531-9_19
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