Psychology

Lesbian mothers' constructions of the division of paid and unpaid labor

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Do lesbian couples resist the (re)gendering of divisions of paid and unpaid labor within the context of biological and nonbiological parenting? In this study we explore how primarily Caucasian, North American lesbian mothers of three-and-a-half-year-old children construct divisions of paid and unpaid labor. We analyze 30 lesbian couples' narrative constructions of their labor arrangements, examining the ways in which they both transgress and accept traditionally masculine and feminine gendering. At the same time that biological mothers and nonbiological mothers often described differences in their contributions to paid and unpaid labor, they rarely invoked biology as a salient factor in explaining their work/family roles. Our analysis suggests that the 'egalitarian ethic' of lesbian women is an over-simplification of the multiple ways that women develop their divisions of labor. © The Author(s) 2011.

Publication Title

Feminism and Psychology

Publication Date

2-1-2011

Volume

21

Issue

1

First Page

100

Last Page

120

ISSN

0959-3535

DOI

10.1177/0959353510375869

Keywords

biology, division of labor, gender, lesbian, mothers, qualitative, social construction

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