On the Making of Man: A Qualitative Study on the Meaning of Motherhood, Issues of Masculinity, and the Experience of Raising a Son

Abstract

This qualitative research focuses on the meanings that contemporary, working women assign to the experience of motherhood, how the role of work intersects the role of motherhood, and how these women are constructing and deconstructing gender with their preschool-age sons. Feminist and symbolic interactionist perspectives are utilized to ground the study empirically. The results are based on the in-depth interviews the researcher conducted with five working mothers living in a rural, college town.