Gender and Parenthood: Biological and Social Scientific Perspectives

375 Pages·2013·2.277 MB·English

by  W. Bradford Wilcox, Kathleen Kovner Kline (eds.)

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“W. Bradford Wilcox and Kathleen Kovner Kline’s outstanding compilation of iil
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the latest research from the biological and social sciences sheds new light Eo
on the physical and social changes that accompany the transition to parent- , x G E N D E R
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hood. A profound meditation on the contribution of mothers and fathers to D a
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the well-being of children, this volume both challenges and confirms pre- T D
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vailing wisdom about the interaction of gender and parenthood. A must read R
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for young parents, those planning to become parents, and scholars of family life.”
—Neil GilBert, Chernin Professor of soCial Welfare and CodireCtor of the Center
for Child and Youth PoliCY, universitY of California, BerkeleY G
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the essAys iN this collectioN deploy BioloGicAl ANd sociAl scieNtific
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perspectives to evaluate the transformative experience of parenthood for today’s women
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and men. they map the similar and distinct roles mothers and fathers play in their chil-
dren’s lives and measure the effect of gendered parenting on child well-being, work and E
family arrangements, and the quality of couples’ relationships. R
Contributors describe what happens to brains and bodies when women become mothers P a R E N T -
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and men become fathers; whether the stakes are the same or different for each sex; why,
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across history and cultures, women are typically more involved in childcare than men; why
some fathers are strongly present in their children’s lives while others are not; and how the d
various commitments men and women make to parenting shape their approaches to paid
work and romantic relationships. Considering recent changes in men’s and women’s familial P
duties, the growing number of single-parent families, and the impassioned tenor of same- a
sex marriage debates, this book adds sound scientific and theoretical insight to these issues,
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constituting a standout resource for those interested in the causes and consequences of
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contemporary gendered parenthood.
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“A much needed text.”
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—Judy MArtiN, universitY of WisConsin, Green BaY
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“this volume is broad-ranging yet thematically coherent, providing a useful
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roadmap for those seeking to navigate a burgeoning and decidedly interdisciplinary
literature on parents and children. readers in different disciplines will gain a o
firm foothold even as they are challenged to rethink the framing of questions D
regarding the relationship between gender and parenthood.”
biological and Soc ial
—coliN r. JohNsoN, assistant Professor of Gender studies, Sb
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indiana universitY–BloominGton io
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W. BrAdford Wilcox is director of the national marriage Project and ii
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associate professor of sociology at the university of virginia. ica
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KAthleeN KovNer KliNe is a child psychiatrist who has served on the rsd
medical school faculties of dartmouth College, the university of Colorado, p S
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and currently the university of Pennsylvania. cc
tiia EDiTED by w. b R a D fo R D w i lCox
coluMBiA uNiversity press / NeW yorK vesl
cup.columbia.edu ISBN: 978-0-231-16069-8 aND k aT H l E E N k o v N E R k l i N E
cover design: Noah Arlow
cover image: © dreamstime 9 780231 160698
printed in the u.s.A. Columbia
Gender and Parenthood

Gender and Parenthood
Biological and Social Scientific PerSPectiveS
edited by
W. Bradford Wilcox and Kathleen Kovner Kline
columbia university press new york
columbia university press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2013 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gender and parenthood : biological and social scientific perspectives / edited by
W. Bradford Wilcox and Kathleen Kovner Kline.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-231-16068-1 (hbk. : alk. paper)—
ISBN 978-0-231-16069-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-231-53097-2 (ebk.)
1. Parenthood. 2. Sex role. 3. Parent and child. 4. Husband and wife. I. Wilcox,
William Bradford, 1970–. II. Kline, Kathleen Kovner.
HQ755.8.G463 2013
306.874—dc23
2012039624
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author
nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed
since the manuscript was prepared.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
W. Bradford Wilcox and Kathleen Kovner Kline
Part i HoW and WHy iS ParentHood gendered?
1. The Dynamic Nature of the Parental Brain 21
Kelly G. Lambert and Catherine L. Franssen
2. Family Life and Infant Care: Lessons from
Cooperatively Breeding Primates 40
Charles T. Snowdon
3. Human Parenting from an Evolutionary Perspective 61
David F. Bjorklund and Ashley C. Jordan
4. Parenting × Gender × Culture × Time 91
Marc H. Bornstein
5. Gender Differences and Similarities in Parental Behavior 120
Ross D. Parke
6. Gender and Parenting Across the Family Life Cycle 164
Ayelet Talmi
Part ii imPlicationS for cHildren, couPleS, and familieS
7. Essential Elements of the Caretaking Crucible 193
Kathleen Kovner Kline and Brian Stafford
vi contentS
8. Gendered Parenting’s Implications for Children’s Well-Being:
Theory and Research in Applied Perspective 215
Rob Palkovitz
9. Do Fathers Uniquely Matter for Adolescent Well-Being? 249
David J. Eggebeen
10. No One Best Way: Work-Family Strategies, the Gendered
Division of Parenting, and the Contemporary Marriages
of Mothers and Fathers 271
W. Bradford Wilcox and Jeffrey Dew
11. The Effect of Gender-Based Parental Influences on Raising Children:
The Impact on Couples’ Relationships 304
Scott Haltzman
12. Single Mothers Raising Children Without Fathers: Implications
for Rearing Children with Male-Positive Attitudes 322
William Doherty and Shonda Craft
List of Contributors 339
Index 341
aCknowledGments
tHe editorS WiSH to acKnoWledge the generous financial support of
the Administration for Children and Family Services at the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services that funded the project “Gendered Parent-
ing and Its Implications for Child Well-being and Couple Relationships”
(grant no. 90XP0196/01), which led to this book. This book is based on a
conference that was held at the University of Virginia in the fall of 2008 and
that was sponsored by the Institute for American Values in New York City.
We are also grateful to David Blankenhorn, Skip Burzumato, David Lapp,
Elizabeth Marquardt, and Charity Navarrete for their practical help and
substantive advice in moving this book forward. Finally, Sam Richardson
played an invaluable role in editing the manuscript.

Gender and Parenthood