ABSTRACT
This chapter offers new and important insights into the subjective experiences of mothers who work, or have previously worked, in the Scottish film and television industries, paying close attention to the precise ways in which they frame their negotiations of caring responsibilities with work. Although caring responsibilities are often recognised as a significant – but not the only – reason for women’s under-representation in the industries, there is little work that explores this issue in depth. Further, the small body of research that does exist on parental responsibilities in the industries has typically focussed on identifying the practical challenges posed by childcare, rather than on the subjective dimensions of these challenges. This chapter takes a different approach, exploring women’s subjective relationships with both work in the industries and childcare. By paying careful attention to how women talk about their experiences, as well as what is missing from their discussions, the chapter seeks to understand further the ambivalent, complex and often contradictory nature of women’s subjective accounts of negotiating caring responsibilities with work. I argue that only by exploring women’s subjective experiences can we start to understand how women react to experiences of gender inequality and, in turn, identify viable ways to effect change to the normative masculine working cultures that prevent women’s full participation in the sector. The chapter emerges from a larger project on the gendered impact of childcare on parents’ experiences of working in the Scottish industries. Although focussed on women’s accounts, the chapter will also offer a brief comparative analysis of fathers’ discussions, allowing for further insights into the precise gendered dimensions of women’s subjective engagements with childcare and work.
