The mother-writer : navigating motherhood through creative work

Abstract

The relationship between motherhood and creative work has received increased scholarly attention in recent years. However, in contrast to most existing research that examines the negative impact motherhood has on creative work, there is an emerging, less studied trend of middle-class women engaging in creative work when they become mothers - most often from home and as micro-entrepreneurs/self-employers. So far, it remains unclear how this group of creatives experiences and navigates creativity and motherhood, what the appeal of creative work is for mothers and what function it serves in their lives. To examine these issues, this thesis brings together two currently disconnected literatures, those of cultural work and maternal studies. Conceptual frameworks such as passionate work and intensive mothering provide insights into the expectations that middle-class women face with respect to (creative) work and motherhood, however, these frameworks alone are insufficient for explaining the emergence of the 'mother-creative phenomenon'. This thesis draws on a qualitative study of the lived experiences of thirteen writers and mothers based in Australia almost all of whom took up their creative practice after they had children, indicating that for some women motherhood can actually be a pathway into creative work. The overall argument of this thesis is that creative work is particularly appealing to some women when they become mothers because it enables them to navigate both contemporary mothering and work expectations. While engaging in meaningful, fulfilling work with social legitimacy they are simultaneously able to adhere to dominant norms of mothering and invest in their own self-actualisation. By examining the negotiation work that study participants performed in relation to their transition to motherhood, their everyday lives and their identity, this thesis also highlights the importance of considering creative work within the particular life context of practitioners. My insights into the lived experiences of a less 'fashionable' creative cohort - mother-writers - foreground the different functions that creative work fulfils, which can only be understood in relationship to their context as mothers as well as the discourses and expectations that they have to navigate.

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English