Challenging
Motherhood(s)
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Challenging
Motherhood(s)
Julie A. Wallbank
Lancaster University
Pearson Education Limited
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow
Essex CM20 2JE
England
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First published 2001
Pearson Education Limited 2001
The right of Julie A. Wallbank to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the Publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP.
ISBN 0 130 87399 3
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wallbank, Julie A.
Challenging motherhood(s) / Julie A. Wallbank
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0130873993
1. MothersSocial conditions. 2. Motherhood. I. Title.
HQ759.W315 2000
306.8743dc21
00063692
Transferred to digital print on demand, 2005
Typeset by 35 in 9/13.5 pt Stone Serif
Produced by Pearson Education Asia Pte Ltd.
Printed & bound by Antony Rowe Ltd, Eastbourne
For Danny Winder with love. Thank you for allowing me the space to write this book and for understanding and acknowledging that I am more than mother.
contents
Chapter 1
Theorizing mothers: a Foucauldian approach
Chapter 2
Dissident mothers
Chapter 3
Mothers know best? Not in this court
Chapter 4
Fathers as victims: mounting a challenge to mothers
Chapter 5
For the sake of the children: occluding maternal desire
I should like to extend my deepest gratitude to the many people who assisted me in the preparation of this book: above all to the women who participated in the interviews and who gave and entrusted me with some of the most intimate details of their lives. Without their generosity this project would not have been possible. I am also greatly indebted to the various wonderful people who influenced and continue to inspire me and support my work: Alison Young, Peter Rush, Michael Salter, Celia Lury, Leslie Moran, Katherine ODonovan and Richard Collier. I am fortunate to be able to count them as respected peers and friends. They have all offered their own distinctive brands of encouragement and guidance.
Special thanks also to Beverley Skeggs of Manchester University and Jane Fortin of the Law Faculty at Kings College, London, for their valuable comments and insights into my work. I am also grateful to the academic and supportive environment provided by members and former members of the Law Department at Lancaster University; particularly influential have been Leslie Moran, Elena Loizidou, Michael Salter, Alison Young, Peter Rush, Sarah Beresford, David Seymour, Mike MacNair, Piyel Haldar, Marinos Diamantedes, Costas Douzinas and Peter Goodrich. I am also grateful to the Department and the Faculty of Social Sciences for giving me the space to write.
During the books production I suffered from the sad deaths of my mother Phoebe Wallbank, my brother Ronnie Wallbank and my uncle, Jimmy Harris. I must extend my deepest thanks and love to Elena Loizidou for helping me through these most awful times. There are personal friends too numerous to permit a comprehensive list who supported me throughout the preparation and writing of this book. A few do need special mention: Glen Hodgetts for being my undergraduate intellectual sparring partner, Alan Dickinson, Christine Hornby, Moira Maher, Michelle Hodgson, Lisa Parker, Paul and Karen Hegarty, and Louise Roberts. I also thank all my friends in Leeds, Nottingham and London and especially the Bridlington group - you know who you are! I am also grateful to the Grandys, the Bainess and Jan Nicholson for their continuing love.
My friend, student and research assistant Caroline Jones deserves special attention for providing abundant enthusiasm and practical assistance on this and other projects. Without her the task would have been lonelier and more arduous and I extend the deepest gratitude. I am also indebted to my students for allowing me to try out new ideas, particularly, LLM Law and the Body 199900, Gender and the Law 199899 (especially Sarah Jane Solomon) and Children and the Law 199899 & 00.
My thanks also go to Neil Grandy, who lived with me during the period of the preparation of this book and provided its backing music. Belated thanks to Phoebe Wallbank for her valuable practical support.
The research for this book was generously funded by the British Academy.
We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:
Guardian News Service Limited for the headlines Tripled maintenance payments led to divorcees death from THE GUARDIAN 7.12.93, No need for a man about the house from THE GUARDIAN 2.7.94, CSA letter caused suicide in THE GUARDIAN 25.11.94 and CSA delaying fathers appeals in THE GUARDIAN 15.12.94; Independent Newspapers Limited for the article Fathers who are treated as paupers by Angela Neustatter from THE INDEPENDENT 19.9.93; Kluwer Academic Publishers for extracts from the articles An unlikely match? Foucault and the lone mother by Julie Wallbank from LAW & CRITIQUE Volume IX No. 1 1998 and Social and legal responses to women who renounce men by Julie Wallbank from LIVERPOOL LAW REVIEW Volume XX (2) 1998; the author Liz Lochhead for the poem Everybodys Mother from THE VIRAGO BOOK OF WICKED VERSE; Sage Publications for the article The campaign for change of the child support act 1991: reconstituting one absent father by Julie Wallbank from SOCIAL & LEGAL STUDIES Vol XI No. 2 Sage Publications 1997; Society of the Public Teachers of Law for an extract from the article Returning the subject to the subject of womens poverty by Julie Wall-bank from LEGAL STUDIES Volume III No. 2 and Taylor and Francis for an extract from the article Castigating mothers: the judicial response to wilful women in disputes over paternal contact in English law by Julie Wallbank from JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE & FAMILY LAW
