Unhappy mothers

Women, motherhood, and social change in postwar Britain

AvSarah Crook

Inbunden, Engelska, 2025

Del 30 i serien Social Histories of Medicine

362 kr

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Beskrivning

In the decades following the Second World War, mothers’ experiences of loneliness, boredom and unhappiness were increasingly widely acknowledged. The language of postnatal depression came to be attached to this, but mothers organised around their own discontent in ways that challenged the medical model. Unhappy mothers draws attention to the social, political, and professional contexts within which knowledge about unhappy mothering developed. Drawing upon an extensive range of archival material, the book addresses themes around expertise, feminism, and the value given to lived experience.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2025-07-29
Mått:138 x 216 x 17 mm
Vikt:473 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Social Histories of Medicine
Antal sidor:280
Förlag:Manchester University Press
ISBN:9781526140128

Utforska kategorier

Mer om författaren

Sarah Crook is a Senior Lecturer in History at Swansea University

Recensioner i media

'This is a book with a tight focus on how the postwar generation dealt with the initial shock of early motherhood. Crook acknowledges that the structural inequalities associated with mothering do not end when children go to school, and many twenty-first century women struggle with postnatal depression, the long-term effects of difficult births or marginalisation in the workplace. The question of how women manage the world’s incompatible demands, and their own irreconcilable selves, clearly has no fixed solution, and these psychological dilemmas will continue to reshape our societies. Crook’s thought-provoking book leaves the reader wondering where this history of the visibility—and increasing wariness—of unhappy motherhood truly ends.'Katie Joice, Social History of Medicine

Innehållsförteckning

Introduction1 Mothers, general practitioners, and the NHS2 Health visitors and the worlds of new mothers3 Expertise and experience: mothers’ self-help4 The Women’s Liberation Movement and mothers’ discontent5 Feminist sociology, research, and visibilityConclusion