Humanities & Social Sciences

Unhappy mothers

Women, motherhood and social change in postwar Britain

by Sarah Crook

Description

In the decades following the Second World War, mothers' experiences of loneliness, boredom and unhappiness were increasingly widely acknowledged. The language of postnatal depression came to be attached to this, but mothers organised around their own discontent in ways that challenged the medical model. Unhappy mothers draws attention to the social, political, and professional contexts within which knowledge about unhappy mothering developed. Drawing upon an extensive range of archival material, the book addresses themes around expertise, feminism, and the value given to lived experience.

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Reviews

[Not final] The decades following the Second World War saw new mothers' experiences of loneliness, boredom and unhappiness become increasingly widely acknowledged. The language of postnatal depression was often attached to this, but mothers themselves articulated and organised around their discontent in ways that challenged medical models. Unhappy Mothers explores the ways that mothers' discontent came to be recognised by five communities: general practitioners, health visitors, self-help groups, and feminists both inside and outside the academy. Drawing attention to the social, political, and professional contexts within which this knowledge developed, the book argues that expertise about unhappy mothering was increasingly claimed by women themselves. The solutions to the problems of early mothering that they proposed were social and political. Using an extensive array of sources that includes local and national newspapers, autobiographies, medical texts, social surveys, feminist writings, self-help literature, and sociological studies, Unhappy Mothers shines a light on those who spoke into the silence around unhappy motherhood.

Author Biography

Sarah Crook is a Senior Lecturer in History at Swansea University

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Manchester University Press

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Bibliographic Information

  • Publisher Manchester University Press
  • Publication Date July 2025
  • Orginal LanguageEnglish
  • ISBN/Identifier 9781526140128 / 1526140128
  • Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
  • FormatPrint PDF
  • Pages248
  • ReadershipGeneral/trade; College/higher education; Professional and scholarly
  • Publish StatusPublished
  • Dimensions216 X 138 mm
  • Biblio NotesDerived from Proprietary 4921
  • SeriesSocial Histories of Medicine
  • Reference Code12045

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