Making Sense of Fatherhood
Gender, Caring and Work

A unique insight into men's experiences of caring, masculinity and the nature of work as they enter fatherhood.

Tina Miller (Author)

9780521743013, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 November 2010

214 pages
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.4 cm, 0.35 kg

'Accessible, warm and authoritative; this perceptive account of first time fathering successfully articulates the micro-politics of family life and the macro-politics of public policy. Miller shows just how hard it is to 'un-do gender' as the demands of new parenthood confound expectations of equality for contemporary couples.' Rachel Thomson, The Open University

As family and work demands become more complex, who is left holding the baby? Tina Miller explores men's experiences of fatherhood and provides unique insights into paternal caring, changing masculinities and men's relations to paid work. She focuses on the narratives of a group of men as they first anticipate and then experience fatherhood for the first time. Her original, longitudinal research contributes to contemporary theories of gender against a backdrop of societal and policy change. The men's journeys into fatherhood are both similar and varied, and they illuminate just how deeply gender permeates individual lives, everyday practices and societal assumptions around caring for young children. This book acts as a companion to Making Sense of Motherhood (Cambridge University Press, 2005) and, together, these innovative studies reveal how gendered practices around caring become enacted.

Introduction
1. Gendered lives and caring responsibilities: an overview
2. Gendered discourses: men, masculinities and fatherhood
3. Anticipating fatherhood: 'being there'
4. Making sense of early fathering experiences
5. A return to a new normal: juggling fathering and work
6. Gendering practices: motherhood and fatherhood expectations and experiences
7. Conclusions and reflections.

Subject Areas: Sociology: work & labour [JHBL], Sociology: family & relationships [JHBK], Gender studies, gender groups [JFSJ]