Seeing Mothers-in-Law Through the Lens of the Mothering Ideology

Abstract

This interview study examines the ideological assumptions in women’s accounts of their coethnic mothers-in-law in a sample of 36 Taiwanese, Taiwanese Americans, and Mexican Americans. Respondents across ethnic and national backgrounds deploy an ideology of “expressive mothering” that emphasizes close affective bonds in evaluating their mothers-in-law, often relying on their own mothers as the standard for comparison. While respondents generally expect mothers to be very involved in their lives as an extension of their close bonds, they want mothers-in-law to walk a tightrope between close emotional bonds and noninterference. Our findings suggest that respondents’ use of the mothering ideology promotes high expectations and can contribute to difficult in-law relations. We also describe how Taiwanese and Taiwanese American respondents, but not Mexican Americans, engage racialized assumptions regarding the mother-in-law role and, in so doing, reproduce racial stereotypes.