Shani Orgad is associate professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is the author of Storytelling Online: Talking Breast Cancer on the Internet (2005), Media Representation and the Global Imagination (2012), and Caring in Crisis? Humanitarianism, the Public and NGOs (2017, with Bruna Seu).

This book tells a story about sacrificing career for family that resonates far beyond the lives of the women in London Shani Orgad has interviewed. Orgad makes a powerful argument about the denials women experience, precisely because the author does not rant. She is a gifted explorer of adulthood in all its promises, twists, and disappointments. Shani Orgad is one of the finest sociologists of her generation.

• Preface and AcknowledgementsAbbreviationsIntroduction Part I: Heading Home: Forced Choices1. Choice and Confidence Culture/Toxic Work Culture 2. The Balanced Woman/Unequal Homes Part II: Heading the Home: The Personal Consequences of Forced Choices3. Cupcake Mom/Family CEO 4. Aberrant Mothers/Captive Wives Part III: Heading Where? Curbed Desires5. The Mompreneur/Inarticulate Desire 6. Inevitable Change/Invisible Chains Conclusion: Impatience Appendix 1: Interviewees’ Key CharacteristicsAppendix 2: List of Media and Policy RepresentationsAppendix 3: Study MethodologyAppendix 4: Characteristics of UK Stay-at-Home MothersNotesIndex

Shani Orgad is associate professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is the author of Storytelling Online: Talking Breast Cancer on the Internet (2005), Media Representation and the Global Imagination (2012), and Caring in Crisis? Humanitarianism, the Public and NGOs (2017, with Bruna Seu).

This book tells a story about sacrificing career for family that resonates far beyond the lives of the women in London Shani Orgad has interviewed. Orgad makes a powerful argument about the denials women experience, precisely because the author does not rant. She is a gifted explorer of adulthood in all its promises, twists, and disappointments. Shani Orgad is one of the finest sociologists of her generation.

• Preface and AcknowledgementsAbbreviationsIntroduction Part I: Heading Home: Forced Choices1. Choice and Confidence Culture/Toxic Work Culture 2. The Balanced Woman/Unequal Homes Part II: Heading the Home: The Personal Consequences of Forced Choices3. Cupcake Mom/Family CEO 4. Aberrant Mothers/Captive Wives Part III: Heading Where? Curbed Desires5. The Mompreneur/Inarticulate Desire 6. Inevitable Change/Invisible Chains Conclusion: Impatience Appendix 1: Interviewees’ Key CharacteristicsAppendix 2: List of Media and Policy RepresentationsAppendix 3: Study MethodologyAppendix 4: Characteristics of UK Stay-at-Home MothersNotesIndex

Shani Orgad is associate professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is the author of Storytelling Online: Talking Breast Cancer on the Internet (2005), Media Representation and the Global Imagination (2012), and Caring in Crisis? Humanitarianism, the Public and NGOs (2017, with Bruna Seu).

This book tells a story about sacrificing career for family that resonates far beyond the lives of the women in London Shani Orgad has interviewed. Orgad makes a powerful argument about the denials women experience, precisely because the author does not rant. She is a gifted explorer of adulthood in all its promises, twists, and disappointments. Shani Orgad is one of the finest sociologists of her generation.

• Preface and AcknowledgementsAbbreviationsIntroduction Part I: Heading Home: Forced Choices1. Choice and Confidence Culture/Toxic Work Culture 2. The Balanced Woman/Unequal Homes Part II: Heading the Home: The Personal Consequences of Forced Choices3. Cupcake Mom/Family CEO 4. Aberrant Mothers/Captive Wives Part III: Heading Where? Curbed Desires5. The Mompreneur/Inarticulate Desire 6. Inevitable Change/Invisible Chains Conclusion: Impatience Appendix 1: Interviewees’ Key CharacteristicsAppendix 2: List of Media and Policy RepresentationsAppendix 3: Study MethodologyAppendix 4: Characteristics of UK Stay-at-Home MothersNotesIndex