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New Fathers and Mothers as Gender Troublemakers? Exploring Discursive Constructions of Heterosexual Parenthood and their Subversive Potential

Research Institute for Organizational Psychology, University of St. Gallen, Varnbüelstr. 19, CH-9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland, julia.nentwich{at}unisg.ch

Current constructions of heterosexual parenthood in western societies seem to be trapped in a change-retention dilemma. Many elements have changed, but many others have stayed the same. Although `new fathers' do change diapers, the mother is very often seen as the `main parent'. Parenthood is still constructed along the heterosexual gender binary that equates women with mothers and men with fathers. In this article, I analyse four different scenarios of parenthood that were discursively constructed in 21 interviews in Switzerland. I focus on the discursive construction of the subject positions `mother' and `father', the discourses drawn upon, and their potential to subvert the gendered construction of heterosexual parenthood when justifying certain versions of parenthood. Drawing on Judith Butler's concept of `gender trouble', I explore the possibilities for change and the dangers of reifying the gender binary, and critically discuss the possibilities and limitations of gender trouble in this context.

Key Words: binaries • discourse • gender trouble • gendered parenthood • new fathers • new mothers • performativity • subversion

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