How do Chinese, Japanese and Korean mothers in Britain make sense of their motherhood and employment? What are the intersecting factors that shape these women’s identities, experiences and stories? Contributing further to the continuing discourse and development of intersectionality, this book examines East Asian migrant women’s stories of motherhood, employment and gender relations by deploying interlocking categories that go beyond the meta axes of race, gender and class, including factors such as husbands’ ethnicities and the locality of their settlement. Through this, Lim argues for more detailed and context specific analytical categories of intersectionality, enabling a more nuanced understanding of migrant women’s stories and identities. East Asian Mothers in Britain will appeal to students and scholars across a range of disciplines and with an interest in identity, gender, ethnicity, class, migration and intersectionality.

This study explores the accounts of first generation East Asian mothers living in England, for the purpose of examining if and how these women perceive their national and/or ethnic cultural heritage has affected their experiences and identity formation. In order to achieve this aim, the thesis investigates the gendered division of labour within the family and discourse around motherhood and employment, using biographical interviews with 30 first generation East Asian mothers with children under the age of 11. I develop an integrative theoretical framework by deploying various theories in order to analyse the complex and dynamic characteristics of identity formation for ethnic minority mothers. The concepts I draw on are ideology and discourse, storytelling and 'othering', patriarchy, masculinity and femininity, nation, ethnie, culture, class and intersectionality. The data was analysed by using discourse analysis, focusing on discursive themes across interview data, in conjunction with detailed narrative analysis of the individual life stories of four of the women. The findings of the data indicated that despite the increasing involvement of male partners in childcare and domestic work, women's stories suggested that they continued to take on the majority of household labour. In addition, this pattern was more prominent among East Asian couples than mixed ethnic couples. This is suggestive of the persistent influence of the Confucian patriarchal norms among East Asian couples outside East Asia. Alongside this, the examination of discourse and narratives around motherhood and employment indicated that the motherhood ideologies of individual women, influenced by national and/or ethnic cultural heritage, had a major impact on mothers' decision towards childcare and employment. For example, the majority of mothers from Korea and some mothers from Japan tended to endorse an intensive mothering ideology, in which women were expected to stay at home devoting their time and energy to looking after their children. The talk of home-stay mothers was dominated by the importance of the mother's care for the psychological wellbeing of their children. In this discourse the mother's absence was portrayed as having a detrimental effect on the healthy development of young children. But rather than referring to a Western notion of intensive motherhood (see Hays 1996), they talked of their decisions in reference to the way that mothers and fathers were expected to act in their country of origin. This contrasted with the discourse of employed mothers (especially from China), which did not necessarily support the incessant presence and availability of mothers for children, regarding childcare as replaceable by others, such as grandparents. The Chinese women talked of this in reference to their perception of the culture in China where all adults are expected to work, regardless of childcare responsibilities. However, despite notable differences in discourse around 'good' mothering and employment between home-stay mothers and employed mothers, the gendered idea about men's and women's roles seemed to continue to affect the predominant majority of women in my study, irrespective of their employment status. Hence, both home-stay and most employed mothers remained to be the primary care provider as well as taking the major burden of household labour, being subject to a gendered understanding of motherhood and womanhood.

In Mothering in East Asian Communities, Duncan and Wong seamlessly rupture a homogenous identity category--that of the ""tiger mom."" The editors invoke the works of diverse contributors who critically challenge essentialized identity categories and racialized and sexualized experiences of women of color within the institution of motherhood and practices of mothering. Here, the edited volume grapples with globalization, transnationalism, and capitalism with an East Asian ethno-racial-cultural context. Duncan and Wong offer a personal and political analysis of motherhood that is socially and cu

Exploring how people negotiate and reconcile, construct and re-construct their distinctive gender and ethnic identities in a cross-cultural context, Hu examines what happens when two distinct cultures meet at the intimate interface of marriage and family. Chinese-British Intermarriage reveals how gender and ethnic identities intersect in distinctive ways in shaping the lived experiences of intermarried couples. Through the kaleidoscope of first-generation Chinese-British inter-ethnic families in the UK, the book brings together family, gender, migration and ethnic studies, reflecting on ongoing social processes such as individualisation and globalisation.

First collection of full-length plays from British East Asian playwrights Playwrights: Yang Mai Ooi, Jeremy Tiang, Lucy Chai Lai-Tuen, Amy Ng, Stephen Hoo, Joel Tan and Daniel York Loh. Selected and Edited: Cheryl Robson, Dr Amanda Rogers and Dr Ashley Thorpe. With an introduction: Dr Amanda Rogers and Dr Ashley Thorpe A landmark collection of contemporary full-length plays by British East Asian writers. Exploring subjects such as cultural identity, the fragmentation of communities, tradition, invisibility and discrimination, these plays are ideal to perform. With an introduction by academics Dr Amanda Rogers and Dr Ashley Thorpe which sets the plays into context and explores the hidden history of theatre from BEA theatre-makers. This is a timely collection, being published within months of the opening of three plays by British East Asian playwrights in the UK, and a growing awareness in the mainstream press that that East Asians in British theatre are under-represented. As Daniel York Loh writes: “British East Asians were effectively side-lined in any debate on diversity in theatre where the general establishment view tends towards a binary black/white... which seems to exclude large swathes of the Asian continent.” As Kumiko Mendl of Yellow Earth theatre writes: "There is an abundance of talent and experience to be found in the UK, and it's time that the rest of Britain woke up to the diversity of artists and practitioners around them – those that know their Kuan Han-ching as well as their Shakespeare." The seven plays in the anthology are: Bound Feet Blues by Yang Mai Ooi The Last Days of Limehouse by Jeremy Tiang Conversations with my Unknown Mother by Lucy Chai Lai-Tuen Special Occasions by Amy Ng Jamaica Boy by Stephen Hoo Tango by Joel Tan The Fu Manchu Complex by Daniel York Loh "Ooi has some unsettling examples of how, even today in the West, daintiness in a woman is often celebrated and a `beauty is pain' culture still exists." --The Stage "The Last Days of Limehouse is a finely balanced, well-written and superbly acted play that's well worth seeing." **** - --everything theatre "...a devilishly ironic spin on Sax Rohmer's classic novel that will leave you in hysterics...wildly satirical and steeped in sexual innuendo... the atmosphere created on stage is alluring." - --The Upcoming

Divided into 15 chapters, this book provides the reader with an insight into certain representations of mothers and motherhood in history and today’s societies in some areas of the world, notably in Britain and Asia. Key facts about the history of motherhood are presented, together with the use of very recent notions and phrases portraying ‘good’ and ‘bad’ mothers. An analysis of the concepts of naming and blaming, along with regret with respect to mothers in 21st century societies, provides food for thought. Other issues addressed are varied and numerous: the politics of early intervention, feminist critique, mothers with disabilities and mothers of disabled children, incarcerated mothers, surrogate mothers, teenage mothers, lesbian mothers, and mothering in Eastern Asia, namely in China, Japan, and Korea. Interestingly, both visual arts and literature play a crucial role in this analysis. The publication will appeal to students, academics, researchers, and the general public interested in and seeking to comprehend the shifts that have occurred over time in connection with the vast and inexhaustible subject of motherhood and mothers – a private and public matter. Readers are also provided with a rich reference section dealing with the latest publications on the issues tackled by prominent academics and researchers in human geography, women’s studies, sociology, gender studies, contemporary history, and the arts.

"Everyone knows how babies are made, but scientists are only just beginning to understand the making of a mother. Mom Genes reveals the hard science behind our tenderest maternal impulses, tackling questions such as whether a new mom's brain ever really bounces back, why mothers are destined to mimic their own moms (or not), and how maternal aggression makes females the world's most formidable creatures."--Publisher's description.