"Manufacturing Motherhood: The Shadow Work of Nannies and Au Pairs"

[Anonymous]

Google "Manufacturing Motherhood".
There's fascinating research on a PDF
at the Harvard.edu link.

I am sharing the above research in response to the snark comments by mothers on the "MB's how do you feel leaving a beloved nanny behind?" thread. A nanny is clearly traumatized by the sudden announcement by her "nanny family" that they are soon moving far away for a new job. This comes in spite of the fact that the Nanny has moved to be geographically closer to the family.

Many Nannies continue to dedicate their lives to their work, while the parents typically have little of no commitment to the Nanny.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Google "Manufacturing Motherhood".
There's fascinating research on a PDF
at the Harvard.edu link.

I am sharing the above research in response to the snark comments by mothers on the "MB's how do you feel leaving a beloved nanny behind?" thread. A nanny is clearly traumatized by the sudden announcement by her "nanny family" that they are soon moving far away for a new job. This comes in spite of the fact that the Nanny has moved to be geographically closer to the family.

Many Nannies continue to dedicate their lives to their work, while the parents typically have little of no commitment to the Nanny.

Why?

Make no mistake, when you move closer to a job, it is (or should be) out of convenience...not some misguided attempt to show how dedicated you are. Especially in the nanny in question's case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Google "Manufacturing Motherhood".
There's fascinating research on a PDF
at the Harvard.edu link.

I am sharing the above research in response to the snark comments by mothers on the "MB's how do you feel leaving a beloved nanny behind?" thread. A nanny is clearly traumatized by the sudden announcement by her "nanny family" that they are soon moving far away for a new job. This comes in spite of the fact that the Nanny has moved to be geographically closer to the family.

Many Nannies continue to dedicate their lives to their work, while the parents typically have little of no commitment to the Nanny.

Why?

Make no mistake, when you move closer to a job, it is (or should be) out of convenience...not some misguided attempt to show how dedicated you are. Especially in the nanny in question's case.

You should be especially interested in the Harvard research paper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Google "Manufacturing Motherhood".
There's fascinating research on a PDF
at the Harvard.edu link.

I am sharing the above research in response to the snark comments by mothers on the "MB's how do you feel leaving a beloved nanny behind?" thread. A nanny is clearly traumatized by the sudden announcement by her "nanny family" that they are soon moving far away for a new job. This comes in spite of the fact that the Nanny has moved to be geographically closer to the family.

Many Nannies continue to dedicate their lives to their work, while the parents typically have little of no commitment to the Nanny.

Why?

Make no mistake, when you move closer to a job, it is (or should be) out of convenience...not some misguided attempt to show how dedicated you are. Especially in the nanny in question's case.

I am the OP of the other post. I didn't move out of dedication for them. I moved to be closer to work and to my school. It was a decision based solely on employment with them. However, It of course was a factor in deciding what are to move to.

[Anonymous]

This article is from 1998. Surely there are more recent articles on the subject. I actually did not see anything especially interesting in the article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This article is from 1998. Surely there are more recent articles on the subject. I actually did not see anything especially interesting in the article.

Nothing has changed.

[Anonymous]

Can someone summarize the key takeaways from the article?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone summarize the key takeaways from the article?

Can someone post the PDF link?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone summarize the key takeaways from the article?

Yes. One word: "Drivel."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone summarize the key takeaways from the article?

Yes. One word: "Drivel."

[Anonymous]

http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic155590.files/Macdonald_ManufacturingMotherhood.pdf

[Anonymous]

Could not read it, as the entire premise is based on the idea that anything and everything related to caring for a child is "mother-work" and that the hiring of a paid care provider is thus defaulting on the mom's performance of "mother work" by outsourcing her work elsewhere. Fathers have no role as all work related to children is the duty of the mother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could not read it, as the entire premise is based on the idea that anything and everything related to caring for a child is "mother-work" and that the hiring of a paid care provider is thus defaulting on the mom's performance of "mother work" by outsourcing her work elsewhere. Fathers have no role as all work related to children is the duty of the mother.

It doesn't say fathers have no parenting role.
Why are you spewing drivel?

[Anonymous]

It's a relatively small qualitative study that is not meant to have generalizable "takeaways".

It's pretty shrug worthy, if you're a researcher.

[Anonymous]

I am finding it to be incredibly insightful and well-researched, although certainly not feel-good reading material.