Exploring the lived experiences of Singapore’s “opt‐out” mothers: Introducing “Professional Motherhood”
研究了10位受过教育的新加坡中产阶级女性放弃全职工作、专注育儿的选择，提出“专业母职”概念，揭示她们如何利用职业身份和技能来合法化这一决定。
Abstract This article explores the experiences of 10 educated middle‐class Singaporean women who act in contrast to the state's neoliberal focus on continuous employment, opting‐out of full‐time professional work to intensively parent their children. Using the theoretical lens of intensive motherhood and a qualitative longitudinal approach, we explore how these women legitimize their position, highlighting a culturally specific performance of motherhood (“Professional Motherhood”). Professional motherhood enrolls elements of former professional identities and skillsets into everyday motherhood, performed through three strategies: positioning , productive, and practicing motherhood. We contribute to existing literature by demonstrating that culturally informed variations of motherhood exist beyond the (largely Western) dominant lens of intensive motherhood ideology. Professional motherhood is experienced as a radical step by women, proving partially successful in legitimizing opt‐out decisions. However, by incorporating and further emphasizing deeply ingrained ideal worker expectations, women risk further upholding the state's competing logics and their obligations as mothers/workers.