Annotation
Making Sense of Motherhood
Becoming a mother changes lives in many ways and this original and
accessible book explores how women try to make sense of and narrate
their experiences of first-time motherhood in the Western world. Tina
Miller pays close attention to women’s own accounts, over time, of their
experiences of transition to motherhood and shows how myths of
motherhood continue because women do not feel able to voice their
early (often difficult) experiences of mothering. The book charts the
social, cultural and moral contours of contemporary motherhood and
engages with sociological and feminist debates on how selves are constituted,
maintained and narrated. Drawing on original research and
narrative theory, the book also explores the disjuncture that often exists
between personal experience and public discourse and the cultural
dimensions of expert knowledge.
TINA MILLER is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Oxford Brookes
University. Her publications include journal articles and book chapters
on mothering, reproductive health, narratives and methodological issues
in qualitative research. She is co-editor of Ethics in Qualitative Research
(with M. Mauthner, M. Birch and J. Jessop, 2002).
Making Sense of Motherhood
A Narrative Approach
Tina Miller
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sгo Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge UK
First published in print format
© Tina Miller 2005
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521835725
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of
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guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
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