All the rage Mothers, fathers, and the myth of equal partnership

Journalist-turned-psychologist Lockman's second book considers the still-unequal division of domestic labor between parents in contemporary American society. Mother of two Lockman (Brooklyn Zoo, 2012) noticed that she and her husband were frequently fighting about how much more physical and emotional effort she was devoting to their children, at least from her point of view, than he was. She investigated whether this was an experience shared by other mothers and found that it was. Though Lockman doesn't offer any original research into the subject, she neatly consolidates the work of others on the question of nature versus nurture, male resistance to change, and the many reasons the mother is apt to become the default parent in a heterosexual couple. She integrates her own experiences and the thoughts of other mothers into the more scientific survey, and while she doesn't arrive at any particularly hopeful conclusions, her analysis of a perpetually fraught situation will reassure those caught in this bind that they're hardly alone.--Margaret Quamme Copyright 2019 Booklist