Radical Leisure: How Mothers Gain Well-Being and Control through Participation in Exercise Classes

Currie, JL

Radical Leisure: How Mothers Gain Well-Being and Control through Participation in Exercise Classes

Currie, JL

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Publisher:: Common Ground Research Networks
Publication Type:: Book
Citation:: 2018, pp. ? - ? (120)
Issue Date:: 2018-06-08

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Currie, JL https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0424-2966	en_US
dc.date.issued	2018-06-08	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	2018, pp. ? - ? (120)	en_US
dc.identifier.isbn	978-1-86335-016-7	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128965
dc.description.abstract	‘Normal’ or ‘good’ mothers adhere as closely as possible to the ideology of motherhood. This involves a normative standard of a socially constructed role of someone who devotes her personal time, energy and resources to attending to the needs and welfare of her children and family. As part of the ethic of care surrounding motherhood, mothers don’t feel justified in taking time out from their daily routine. It is therefore not surprising that lack of leisure, lack of time to self and poor mental health are health issues commonly experienced by working mothers. Using Foucault’s poststructuralist notions of the concepts of power, discourse and resistance, this book suggests that exercise classes taken at a mother’s leisure offer her an outlet to challenge some aspects of her subordination. In her book, Radical Leisure, Dr. Janet Currie documents the rich accounts provided by mothers who, by participating in exercise classes, resist to find a space of their own and take control over their own lifestyle. In Radical Leisure, Janet explains how mothers engaging in exercise classes may gain mental wellbeing and ease stress levels. When mothers participate in exercise classes, they can also feel in greater control of their body shape, but may use the classes in an attempt to shape and discipline their bodies to look a certain way. Mothers can choose what the classes mean to them, liberating or constraining. However, the sense of freedom and stress relief mothers gain from exercise class participation is well worth the effort.	en_US
dc.publisher	Common Ground Research Networks	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.18848/978-1-8633-5015-0/CGP	en_US
dc.title	Radical Leisure: How Mothers Gain Well-Being and Control through Participation in Exercise Classes	en_US
dc.type	Book
utslib.location	Champaign, Illinois, USA	en_US
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services	en_US
utslib.for	200101 Communication Studies	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/School of International Studies
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	Champaign, Illinois, USA	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US

Abstract:

‘Normal’ or ‘good’ mothers adhere as closely as possible to the ideology of motherhood. This involves a normative standard of a socially constructed role of someone who devotes her personal time, energy and resources to attending to the needs and welfare of her children and family. As part of the ethic of care surrounding motherhood, mothers don’t feel justified in taking time out from their daily routine. It is therefore not surprising that lack of leisure, lack of time to self and poor mental health are health issues commonly experienced by working mothers. Using Foucault’s poststructuralist notions of the concepts of power, discourse and resistance, this book suggests that exercise classes taken at a mother’s leisure offer her an outlet to challenge some aspects of her subordination. In her book, Radical Leisure, Dr. Janet Currie documents the rich accounts provided by mothers who, by participating in exercise classes, resist to find a space of their own and take control over their own lifestyle. In Radical Leisure, Janet explains how mothers engaging in exercise classes may gain mental wellbeing and ease stress levels. When mothers participate in exercise classes, they can also feel in greater control of their body shape, but may use the classes in an attempt to shape and discipline their bodies to look a certain way. Mothers can choose what the classes mean to them, liberating or constraining. However, the sense of freedom and stress relief mothers gain from exercise class participation is well worth the effort.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128965