MILFS and Matrons: Images and Realities of Mothers’ Sexuality

Montemurro, Beth; Siefken, Jenna Marie

doi:10.1007/s12119-012-9129-2

Cited by 32 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Cultural messages that place emphasis on the sexual attractiveness of young women, thin women, and innocent women might make women feel less sexual as a mother (Montemurro & Siefken, 2012), yet men are not generally faced with the same pressure as a father. For instance, Montemurro and Siefken (2012) interviewed women after becoming mothers and found that women’s ideas about their sex appeal and sexual desire had negatively changed after becoming mothers. Women’s changed sexual feelings were also complicated by fatigue and responsibility, resulting in women taking a break from perceiving themselves as sexual (Montemurro & Siefken, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Montemurro and Siefken (2012) interviewed women after becoming mothers and found that women’s ideas about their sex appeal and sexual desire had negatively changed after becoming mothers. Women’s changed sexual feelings were also complicated by fatigue and responsibility, resulting in women taking a break from perceiving themselves as sexual (Montemurro & Siefken, 2012). Women’s feelings of being less sexual or needing to take a break may indicate one potential mediating mechanism between stress and sexual satisfaction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Women report difficulty combining the roles of mother and sexual partner (Montemurro & Siefken, 2012) because they may feel consumed by the stress of the mothering role and therefore experience less identification as a sexual person (Montemurro & Siefken, 2012). …”

Section: Sexual Satisfaction and Parenthoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The demands on women for intensive mothering, pregnancy-linked physical changes, and diminished feelings of sexuality may impact mothers’ interest in sex and sexual satisfaction (Henderson et al, 2015; Montemurro & Siefken, 2012; Pujols, Meston, & Seal, 2010). As women experience more stress during the transition to parenthood, they may be less attuned to their partner’s needs (Cowan & Cowan, 1988; LeMasters, 1957).…”

Section: The Couple’s Relationship and Parenthoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As mentioned above, some women may temporarily feel less sexual during the adjustment to parenting (Montemurro & Siefken, 2012), and this change may impact their husband or partner. Studies have shown that women spend less quality time with husbands after the birth of their first child (Dew & Wilcox, 2011) and that women’s preoccupation with mothering may create a feeling of sexual disconnection and rejection in their partner.…”

Section: The Couple’s Relationship and Parenthoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Parenting Stress and Sexual Satisfaction Among First-Time Parents: A Dyadic Approach

et al. 2016

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The present paper reports on longitudinal associations between parenting stress and sexual satisfaction among 169 heterosexual couples in the first year after the birth of a first child. Actor Partner Interdependence Modeling (APIM) was used to model the effects of the mother’s and father’s parenting stress at 6 months after birth on sexual satisfaction at one year after birth. Based on social constructivist theory and scarcity theory, two hypotheses were posed: (a) mothers’ parenting stress will predict their own later sexual satisfaction whereas fathers’ parenting stress will not predict their own later sexual satisfaction (actor effects) and (b) mothers’ parenting stress will predict fathers’ later sexual satisfaction but fathers’ parenting stress will not predict mothers’ later sexual satisfaction (partner effects). On average, parents were only somewhat satisfied with their sex life. The first hypothesis was supported as greater parenting stress significantly predicted lower sexual satisfaction for mothers but not for fathers. The second hypothesis was also supported as mothers’ greater parenting stress significantly predicted less sexual satisfaction in fathers, whereas fathers’ parenting stress did not significantly predict mothers’ sexual satisfaction. We discuss how our results may be interpreted considering the social construction of gendered family roles.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%