A Literature Review of Cultural Stereotypes Associated with Motherhood and Fatherhood

Intersectionality and fatherhood: Theorizing non‐hegemonic fatherhoods

“…However, non-hegemonic, marginalized father groups have not received the same amount of attention (Roopnarine, 2015) and main theoretical development still remained focused on "white, American, middle-class men in monogamous marriages" (Inhorn et al, 2014. p. 2). Moreover, research has often neglected the complexity that exists within specific fathers' populations, particularly in light of the impact of social, racial, and ethnic diversity and structural inequality (Valiquette-Tessier et al, 2019). Fatherhood theorization has mostly overlooked these particular groups, and the existing theories used to examine these groups of fathers are sometimes done through an essentialist, Western, and middle-class lens, sometimes resulting in the stereotypization of these fathers (Randles, 2018).…”

Mothering in socioeconomically marginalised communities in South Africa: A conceptual development

“…The above descriptions demonstrate how maternal practices involve negotiations of physical presence, emotional care, material provision, role modelling, guidance, advice, protection, normalisation, and solidarity across complex life situations . The responsibilities make visible new and more diverse maternal practices, in the same vein as a review in North America (Valiquette-Tessier et al ., 2019) that identified great variations of stereotypes associated with mothering in contrast to more narrow stereotypes on fathering . Diverse maternal practices need to be understood in view of cultural norms of mothering by asking questions based upon the motherhood framework (O'Reilly, 2010a), such as: • Who is mothering, and is anyone who commits themself to the demands of maternal practices doing mothering?…”

“…While conceptual developments in the context of South African communities are on the rise (e .g ., Moore, 2013; Mothering in socioeconomically marginalised communities in South Africa: A conceptual development Ntshongwana et al ., 2015), mothering has commonly not been the unit of analysis . This is unlike in the international literature, which has explored mothering as a concept of its own for decades (e .g ., Hays, 1996;O'Reilly, 2010a;Rich, 1976;Valiquette-Tessier et al ., 2019) . Rabe and Naidoo (2015) claim that mothering as a research topic in South Africa generally has been "taken for granted" (p .…”

“…In research, mothering emerges as the female-defined area of motherhood by emphasising lived experiences of child-rearing as people who both conform to and/or resist the patriarchal institution. Within this field, studies pay attention to the diversity of child-rearing practices observed ethnographically in different contexts (e .g ., Barlow & Chapin, 2010); diverse experiences related to race, class, sexuality, and social status (e .g ., Kawash, 2011); and to migrant-, single-, lesbian mothering (e .g ., Heffernan & Wilgus, 2018), as well as constructions of parenting stereotypes (Valiquette-Tessier et al ., 2019) . This study uses the analytic levels of "maternal practice" and "patriarchal motherhood" to systematise meanings of mothering .…”

The challenge to prioritise infant mental health in South Africa

“…Recent feminist literature has critiqued this representation of mothers and attempted to allow space for the consideration of the subjectivity of mothers and the ambivalences of motherhood (Baraitser, 2006, 2009; Butler, 1988; Chodorow, 2004; Green, 2015; Hollway, 2001; Kruger, 2003; Raphael-Leff, 2010). However, the stereotype of mother and the idealisation and devaluation of mothers remain strongly entrenched in collective, social discourse (Hollway, 2016; Valiquette-Tessier, Gosselin, Young, & Thomassin, 2018).…”