Myths of Motherhood: How Culture Reinvents the Good Mother [Paperback]

Shari Thurer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1995

An irreverent and entertaining book for every mother who's been made to feel guilty or frazzled by society's impossible expectations. Analyzing data from the psychoanalyst's couch, Thurer wends her way from the Stone Age to the age of Hillary Clinton, painting a vivid picture of life for mothers and children in a time when their roles were constructed by men.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In an enlightening, disarming survey of motherhood across the centuries, Thurer draws on feminist theory, psychoanalysis and cultural history to show that each society has its own norms, beliefs and expectations for mothering. She finds that pervasive misogyny and female infanticide subverted ancient Greek motherhood, while in the Middle Ages, fierce maternal love--personified by the archetype of the Madonna selflessly devoted to her Son--coexisted with child abandonment and widespread inhumane treatment of children. The "good mother"--properly married, subservient, modest, forgoing her own needs and desires to rear her children--was invented during the Protestant Reformation, asserts Thurer, a Boston clinical psychologist. Encouraging a diversity of mothering styles, she suggests that mothers today can be personally ambitious without endangering their children and advocates a family model based on "shared sacrifice," with new forms of public and private support to ease the burden of mothering.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Psychologist Thurer offers a historical smorgasbord of societal attitudes toward mothering, from the paleolithic period to the present. She views the Stone Age as a golden period for women: The prevalent divinities were powerful, complex mother goddesses, revered for their seemingly magical ability to bear children. By 600 bc, the patriarchy's ascendancy signaled the beginning of a long downward spiral for the status of mothers and, by extension, of children. In classical Athens, misogyny was particularly virulent; women were marginalized, and infanticide appeared to be the preferred form of family planning. Medieval and Renaissance Europeans venerated images of the Virgin Mary and her divine child, but in real life, deaths of infants (particularly girls) due to neglect and abandonment reached epidemic proportions. Throughout much of later European history, women who fit the mold of the submissive, fertile wife were idealized, albeit patronized, while unwed mothers were vilified and sometimes put to death. By the early 20th century, as medical advances made survival of birth more likely for both mother and child, ``scientific motherhood'' arrived. A stream of manuals offered advice on raising physically and emotionally healthy children, paving the way for psychological theories that blamed women for all their offspring's emotional ills. Recently, though, says Thurer, the image of mothers has been revitalized by feminist authors who portray them as loving but with a realistic range of emotions. Mom is finally becoming a person. Many of Thurer's conclusions, particularly those concerning early history, seem open to question, based as they are on scanty evidence. And there are some distracting factual lapses. (The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary means that from the time she was conceived she was without original sin--not that she was conceived asexually.) Nonetheless, Thurer effectively demonstrates how transient any one view of mothering really is. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (May 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140246835
• ISBN-13: 978-0140246834
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Recommend this Book, October 12, 1999

By 

Carolyn Slattery - See all my reviews

This review is from: Myths of Motherhood: How Culture Reinvents the Good Mother (Paperback)

I found this book to be a fascinating, couldn't-put-it-down retrospective of motherhood seen in a historical and cultural perspective. Not only was the subject matter interesting, but it was written in a fresh and accessible manner for the non-historian.

4.0 out of 5 stars Myths on Motherhood, March 11, 2011

By 

Jonathan M. Tran - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Myths of Motherhood: How Culture Reinvents the Good Mother (Paperback)

An overall solid book on motherhood. It is written from the author's perspective and I used it throughout my global humanities class on motherhood.

4 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars None of that feminist hogwash, May 23, 2000

By 

Carmen K. Welsh Jr. "Kayfey" (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Myths of Motherhood: How Culture Reinvents the Good Mother (Paperback)

Being a woman against political correctness also does not make me a big fan of many feministic studies, so I was a bit relunctant to pick up this book at my college bookstore. The Myths of Motherhood is a fascinating read and not written by the usual feminist fare of male-hating/bashing writers. Shari L. Thurer is a mother herself and she writes with confident prose of the "maternal" perception throughout areas of history. Even with convincing speculation on what may have gone on through the minds of women in their respective eras. This book is an excellent reference on several levels and will lead one to re-evaluate just how much society's changes have affected what we *think* is a proper "mother".