Graduation Semester and Year
2018
Language
English
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Sociology
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
First Advisor
Beth Anne Shelton
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning handcrafting has for stay-at-home mothers, the reasons some mothers engage in handcrafting, and how the practice of handcrafting influences motherhood. Qualitative data on handcrafting were gathered from in-depth, in person interviews with nine stay-at-home mothers. The data highlights the struggles stay-at-home mothers face in their everyday lives and how handcrafting serves to help mothers manage motherhood expectations. Handcrafting is a form of obscured leisure because it provides the mothers in this study some escape from the pressures of mothering while also allowing the mothers to perform intensive motherhood to their peers, social groups, and on social media. This is possible because handcrafting is enjoyable but also provides goods for the family. Handcrafting allows mothers to focus on the well-being of their children, spouses, and home while also escaping the pressures of motherhood.
Keywords
Intensive motherhood, Crafting, Obscured leisure, Domesticity
Disciplines
Social and Behavioral Sciences | Sociology
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Carney, Christina Laura, "Obscured Leisure: Crafting as Leisure for Stay-At-Home Mothers" (2018). Sociology & Anthropology Theses. 77.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/sociologyanthropology_theses/77
Comments
Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington