Motherhood and Autonomy in a Shared Parenting Climate

GENDER, SEXUALITIES AND LAW, pp. 255-268, J. Jones, Anna Grear, Rachel Anne Fenton and Kim Stevenson, eds., Routledge, March 2011

Posted: 2 Dec 2011

See all articles by Susan B. Boyd

Susan B. Boyd

University of British Columbia Allard School of Law

Date Written: 2011

Abstract

This chapter explores the limits that shared-parenting norms can place on women's autonomy over life decisions for themselves and for their children. In particular, it identifies the tensions between women's autonomy and modern expectations of mother-caregivers who do not live with the fathers of their children. While the focus on opposite-sex parents reflects the historic dominance of such relationships in parenting disputes that receive legal attention, the norms discussed are also relevant to the increasing number of disputes between lesbian mothers and sperm donors. Feminist approaches to autonomy and to relationship are discussed first. The discourse then turns to the implications of normative shared parenting for mothers who either never had, or no longer have, a relationship-based motivation for facilitating the child's relationship with the other parent. Finally, the concept of relational autonomy is used to suggest a way to shift the normative force of shared parenting.

Keywords: Motherhood, Shared parenting, Feminism

Suggested Citation

Boyd, Susan Barbara, Motherhood and Autonomy in a Shared Parenting Climate (2011). GENDER, SEXUALITIES AND LAW, pp. 255-268, J. Jones, Anna Grear, Rachel Anne Fenton and Kim Stevenson, eds., Routledge, March 2011 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1966650

Susan Barbara Boyd (Contact Author)

University of British Columbia Allard School of Law ( email )

1822 East Mall
Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1
Canada
604-822-8108 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.allard.ubc.ca/faculty-staff/susan-b-boyd-frsc

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