Kirsty Budds
I'm a Critical Social Psychologist with broad research interests in gender, parenting ideologies and health.
Currently, I have a particular interest in ideologies and discourses of motherhood and how these may shape the experiences and subjectivities of women who become mothers. Specifically, I'm interested in discourses of 'good' and 'bad' mothering and how they have the power to legitimize or, alternatively, invalidate women's experiences of motherhood.
Further to this I have a strong interest in constructionist methodologies and pluralistic approaches to discourse analysis.
Currently, I have a particular interest in ideologies and discourses of motherhood and how these may shape the experiences and subjectivities of women who become mothers. Specifically, I'm interested in discourses of 'good' and 'bad' mothering and how they have the power to legitimize or, alternatively, invalidate women's experiences of motherhood.
Further to this I have a strong interest in constructionist methodologies and pluralistic approaches to discourse analysis.
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Papers by Kirsty Budds
In recognition of these risks, experts have warned that women should aim to have their children between the ages of twenty and thirty-five. As a consequence, women giving birth past the age of thirty-five have typically been positioned as “older mothers.” In this paper we used a social constructionist thematic analysis in order to analyse how “older mothers” are represented in newspaper articles in the British press. We examined how the topics of “choice” and “risk” are handled in discussions of delayed motherhood, and found that the media position women as wholly responsible for choosing the timing of pregnancy and, as a consequence, as accountable for the associated risks. Moreover, we noted that newspapers also constructed a “right” time for women to become pregnant. As such, we discuss the implications for the ability of women to make real choices surrounding the timing of pregnancy.
Talks by Kirsty Budds
Eleven semi-structured interviews with women who ‘delayed’ motherhood beyond age 35 were carried out in order to explore women’s journeys towards later motherhood. These interviews were analysed using a critical discursive psychological analysis, which enabled the identification of a number of interpretative repertoires and discursive devices that women drew upon in order to construct and negotiate their timing of motherhood.
In contrast to the stereotype, there was found to be no single route that these women followed to later motherhood. Although careers did feature as a contributing factor in some accounts, for the most part, the reasons behind later motherhood were often multiple and complex. Women could be seen to draw upon various interpretative repertoires which enabled them to construct the timing of motherhood as an amalgam of carefully considered decisions and life circumstances, as opposed to a ‘choice’. As such, this paper critiques the assumption that delayed motherhood is a straightforward choice for women. Instead, it is argued that the journey towards later motherhood is complex – a careful negotiation between life decisions and circumstances that are shaped, to some extent, by the characteristics of individualist western cultures. Some implications for the future of motherhood in western societies are briefly discussed.
In recognition of these risks, experts have warned that women should aim to have their children between the ages of twenty and thirty-five. As a consequence, women giving birth past the age of thirty-five have typically been positioned as “older mothers.” In this paper we used a social constructionist thematic analysis in order to analyse how “older mothers” are represented in newspaper articles in the British press. We examined how the topics of “choice” and “risk” are handled in discussions of delayed motherhood, and found that the media position women as wholly responsible for choosing the timing of pregnancy and, as a consequence, as accountable for the associated risks. Moreover, we noted that newspapers also constructed a “right” time for women to become pregnant. As such, we discuss the implications for the ability of women to make real choices surrounding the timing of pregnancy.
Eleven semi-structured interviews with women who ‘delayed’ motherhood beyond age 35 were carried out in order to explore women’s journeys towards later motherhood. These interviews were analysed using a critical discursive psychological analysis, which enabled the identification of a number of interpretative repertoires and discursive devices that women drew upon in order to construct and negotiate their timing of motherhood.
In contrast to the stereotype, there was found to be no single route that these women followed to later motherhood. Although careers did feature as a contributing factor in some accounts, for the most part, the reasons behind later motherhood were often multiple and complex. Women could be seen to draw upon various interpretative repertoires which enabled them to construct the timing of motherhood as an amalgam of carefully considered decisions and life circumstances, as opposed to a ‘choice’. As such, this paper critiques the assumption that delayed motherhood is a straightforward choice for women. Instead, it is argued that the journey towards later motherhood is complex – a careful negotiation between life decisions and circumstances that are shaped, to some extent, by the characteristics of individualist western cultures. Some implications for the future of motherhood in western societies are briefly discussed.