8 - Searching for Balance but Finding Guilt A Story of Academic Mothers in South Africa
Corresponding Author(s) : Venitha Pillay
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 10 No. 2 (2012): Journal of Higher Education in Africa
Abstract
This article draws on the data from a larger ethnographic study which tracked the lives of three academics who had just become mothers. In it, I respond to the question I have repeatedly encountered, in a variety of forms: How can I be an academic and a mother without going insane? Two linked thematic issues emerge from the data: (a) the search for balance between academic work and motherhood is elusive; and (b) academic mothers are torn apart by guilt. In using Grosz’s idea that feminists need to consistently critique and construct, I make a case for academic mothers seeking to ‘let go’ in order to ‘let in’ more liberatory ways of being ‘academic’ and ‘mother’. I argue too that Grosz’s idea should be extended to include ways of destructing paralysing notions of what it means to be an academic and a mother, simultaneously.
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- Bassett, R.H., 2005, ‘The Life I didn’t Know I Wanted’, in Bassett, R.H., ed.,ng and Professing: Balancing Family Work with an Academic Career, (pp.217- 224), Tennessee: Vanderbilt University Press.
- Cloete, N. and Bunting, I., 2000, Higher Education Transformation: Assessing Performance in South Africa, Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET).
- Cooey, P., 1999, ‘“Ordinary Mother” as Oxymoron: the Collusion of Theory, Theory and Politics in the Undermining of Mothers’, in Hanigsberg, J. and Ruddick, S., eds., Mother Troubles: Rethinking Contemporary Maternal Dilemmas, (pp. 229-249), Boston: Beacon Press.
- Edwards, R., 1993, Mature Women Students: Separating or Connecting Family and Education, London: Taylor and Francis.
- Evans, E. and Grant, C., eds., 2009, Mama Phd: Women Write about Motherhood and Academic Life, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
- Foucault, M., 1997, Society Must be Defended: Lectures at the College de France 1975-76, Translated by David Macey. New York: Picador.
- Grosz, E., 1990, ‘Contemporary Theories of Power and Subjectivity’, in Gunew, S., ed., Feminist Knowledge: Critique and Construct, (pp.59-120), London and New York: Routledge.
- Grossman, H. Y. and Chester, N. L., 1990, The Experience and Meaning of Work in Women’s Lives, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- Lather, P., 2007, Getting Lost: Feminist Efforts Toward a Double(d) Science, USA: State University of New York Press.
- Lupton, D., 2000, ‘“A Love/Hate Relationship”: The Ideals and Experiences of First- time Mothers’, Journal of Sociology, 36, 50-63.
- McCorkel, J.A. and Myers, K., 2003, ‘What Difference Does Difference Make? Position and Privilege in the Field’,
- McMahon, M., 1995, Engendering Motherhood: Identity and Self-transformation in Women’s Lives, New York: The Guilford Press.
- Moe, K.S., 2003, ‘Setting the Stage: An Introduction and Overview’, in Moe, K.S, ed., Women, Family, and Work: Writings on the Economics of Gender, (pp. 3-8), Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
- Oakley, A., 1986, From Here to Maternity: Becoming a Mother, Harmondsworth: Penguin. Pillay, V., 2007, Academic Mothers, UK: Trentham Bovics.
- Ribbens, J., 1994, Mothers and their Children: A Feminist Sociology of Child- rearing, London: Sage Publications.
- Rich, A., 1995, Of Women Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution, New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
- Ruddick, S., 1995, Maternal Thinking: Toward a Politics of Peace, Boston: Beacon Press.
- Sanders, J., 2009, ‘In Dreams Begin Possibilities - or Anybody Have Time for Change’, in Evans and Grant, eds., Mama Phd, pp. 247- 250, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
- Snitow, A., 1992, ‘Feminism and Motherhood: An American Reading’, Feminist Review, 40, 32-52. Wilson, K.B. and Cox, E.M., 2011, ‘No Kids Allowed: Transforming Community Colleges to Support Mothering’, NASPA Journal about Women in Higher Education, 4(2), 218-241.
- Wu, Y., 1997, ‘Thinking Feminist Thought’, Surface, VII (115), 4-9.
- Young, D.S. and Wright, E.M., 2001,’ Mothers Making Tenure’, Journal of Social ation, 37(3), 555-568.
References
Bassett, R.H., 2005, ‘The Life I didn’t Know I Wanted’, in Bassett, R.H., ed.,ng and Professing: Balancing Family Work with an Academic Career, (pp.217- 224), Tennessee: Vanderbilt University Press.
Cloete, N. and Bunting, I., 2000, Higher Education Transformation: Assessing Performance in South Africa, Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET).
Cooey, P., 1999, ‘“Ordinary Mother” as Oxymoron: the Collusion of Theory, Theory and Politics in the Undermining of Mothers’, in Hanigsberg, J. and Ruddick, S., eds., Mother Troubles: Rethinking Contemporary Maternal Dilemmas, (pp. 229-249), Boston: Beacon Press.
Edwards, R., 1993, Mature Women Students: Separating or Connecting Family and Education, London: Taylor and Francis.
Evans, E. and Grant, C., eds., 2009, Mama Phd: Women Write about Motherhood and Academic Life, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
Foucault, M., 1997, Society Must be Defended: Lectures at the College de France 1975-76, Translated by David Macey. New York: Picador.
Grosz, E., 1990, ‘Contemporary Theories of Power and Subjectivity’, in Gunew, S., ed., Feminist Knowledge: Critique and Construct, (pp.59-120), London and New York: Routledge.
Grossman, H. Y. and Chester, N. L., 1990, The Experience and Meaning of Work in Women’s Lives, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lather, P., 2007, Getting Lost: Feminist Efforts Toward a Double(d) Science, USA: State University of New York Press.
Lupton, D., 2000, ‘“A Love/Hate Relationship”: The Ideals and Experiences of First- time Mothers’, Journal of Sociology, 36, 50-63.
McCorkel, J.A. and Myers, K., 2003, ‘What Difference Does Difference Make? Position and Privilege in the Field’,
McMahon, M., 1995, Engendering Motherhood: Identity and Self-transformation in Women’s Lives, New York: The Guilford Press.
Moe, K.S., 2003, ‘Setting the Stage: An Introduction and Overview’, in Moe, K.S, ed., Women, Family, and Work: Writings on the Economics of Gender, (pp. 3-8), Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Oakley, A., 1986, From Here to Maternity: Becoming a Mother, Harmondsworth: Penguin. Pillay, V., 2007, Academic Mothers, UK: Trentham Bovics.
Ribbens, J., 1994, Mothers and their Children: A Feminist Sociology of Child- rearing, London: Sage Publications.
Rich, A., 1995, Of Women Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution, New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
Ruddick, S., 1995, Maternal Thinking: Toward a Politics of Peace, Boston: Beacon Press.
Sanders, J., 2009, ‘In Dreams Begin Possibilities - or Anybody Have Time for Change’, in Evans and Grant, eds., Mama Phd, pp. 247- 250, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
Snitow, A., 1992, ‘Feminism and Motherhood: An American Reading’, Feminist Review, 40, 32-52. Wilson, K.B. and Cox, E.M., 2011, ‘No Kids Allowed: Transforming Community Colleges to Support Mothering’, NASPA Journal about Women in Higher Education, 4(2), 218-241.
Wu, Y., 1997, ‘Thinking Feminist Thought’, Surface, VII (115), 4-9.
Young, D.S. and Wright, E.M., 2001,’ Mothers Making Tenure’, Journal of Social ation, 37(3), 555-568.