Parenting and Gender

Abstract

This chapter explores the sociological literature on the many ways in which parenting is both gendered and gendering. That exploration attends to the intersections of gender with other dimensions of inequality and the interconnections among gendered and gendering patterns at the individual, interactional, and institutional levels. Specific topics include definitions of parenthood, paths into parenthood, parenting labor, links between parenting and paid employment, social policy, and parenting as it shapes and is shaped by children’s gender. Along with a review of key themes and patterns in the literature related to these specific topics, the chapter offers a discussion and suggestions for future directions. The literature has become more attentive, over time, to intersectionality, queer and trans issues, men and masculinities, and challenges to the gender binary. Future work should continue to deepen these more recent directions, and continue to emphasize power as a central organizing element of intersecting structures of inequality. Ongoing consideration of neoliberalism as a context in which family and household patterns are constructed is also suggested, as is a commitment to feminist public engagement and social change.