Maryanne Levy is an author based in London who writes honestly about the emotional and psychological impacts of becoming a parent. In a recent piece, Levy detailed her experience of parenting during a pandemic, the impossibility of working (or having an identity at all) as she looked after her children while her husband worked full-time from another room. “I really struggled with the whole sense of pregnancy and birth being tied up with what kind of person you are…I felt my narrative as a person had been completely replaced by my narrative as a mother and subsumed by the narrative of my child”. In line with Levy’s experience, Goldberg (2014) argues that becoming a parent raises the possibility of changes in identity. Gender appears to be a crucial factor that shapes such changes. Levy’s experience offers an interesting insight into the effects of transition to parenthood on identity and that such effects may be influenced by gender and gender roles. Reflect on what you have learned in the module, particularly from the theme “gender and family identities”, and critically discuss gender differences in the impact of becoming a parent on identities that can help us understand Levy’s experience.Maryanne Levy is an author based in London who writes honestly about the emotional and psychological impacts of becoming a parent. In a recent piece, Levy detailed her experience of parenting during a pandemic, the impossibility of working (or having an identity at all) as she looked after her children while her husband worked full-time from another room. “I really struggled with the whole sense of pregnancy and birth being tied up with what kind of person you are…I felt my narrative as a person had been completely replaced by my narrative as a mother and subsumed by the narrative of my child”. In line with Levy’s experience, Goldberg (2014) argues that becoming a parent raises the possibility of changes in identity. Gender appears to be a crucial factor that shapes such changes. Levy’s experience offers an interesting insight into the effects of transition to parenthood on identity and that such effects may be influenced by gender and gender roles. Reflect on what you have learned in the module, particularly from the theme “gender and family identities”, and critically discuss gender differences in the impact of becoming a parent on identities that can help us understand Levy’s experience.
https://mariannehlevy.medium.com/me-time-b6f760c9d630https://mariannehlevy.medium.com/me-time-b6f760c9d630 (recent piece)
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jul/17/why-must-mothers-be-expected-to-suffer-in-silence-emma-beddington-marianne-levyhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jul/17/why-must-mothers-be-expected-to-suffer-in-silence-emma-beddington-marianne-levy
and
Maria Kaźmierczak & Karol Karasiewicz (2019) Making space for a new role – gender differences in identity changes in couples transitioning to parenthood, Journal of Gender Studies, 28:3, 271-287, DOI: 10.1080/09589236.2018.1441015
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|