Negotiating the "Labor of Love": How Resources, Time, and Gender Shape Parenting Agreements

Abstract

The following questions beg to be addressed: How clearly are pregnant women able to articulate their work and family goals? And how is this related to carving out parenting responsibilities with their spouses? Because it is so critical to women's trajectory in their work and family roles, I am interested in examining how married couples approach the decision-making process regarding the responsibilities they will take on as they anticipate becoming parents. This research seeks to illustrate how married couples "do gender"—how they negotiate the roles that fundamentally define their gender relations.