Myths of Motherhood - by Sherry Thurer (Paperback)

About the Book

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.

Book Synopsis

This groundbreaking and irreverent history of motherhood is worth a hundred advice books for any mother who's ever been made to feel guilty or frazzled by society's impossible expectations. Analyzing data from the psychoanalyst's couch to the hidden history of wet nursing, psychologist Shari L. Thurer wends her way from the Stone Age to the age of Hillary Rodham Clinton, painting a vivid, often frightening picture of life for mothers and children in a time when their roles were constructed by men. Along the way, she debunks myth after myth--exposing the not-so-golden ages of Classical Greece and the Italian Renaissance, and revealing the pervasive ideal of Dr. Spock's selfless, stay-at-home mother as the historical aberration it actually was. A work of impassioned scholarship and astonishing range, The Myths of Motherhood does nothing less than recast our conception of good mothering.

Review Quotes

"A refreshing, eye-opening look at the history of motherhood."
--San Francisco Chronicle

"A comprehensive treatment of motherhood has been long overdue, and this fits the bill, in spades."
--Susan Brownmiller, author of Against Our Will and Femininity

'A positive, sensible, and readable history directed to women in the throes of the experience . . . designed to reinforce Ms. Thurer's assertion that the modern mother cannot possibly do worse than her predecessors."
--The New York Times Book Review

"A history from the point of view of mothers and children is a rarity. And this one is rich, far-reaching, and fierce, as well as clever and accessible. From the Ancient Goddess to the Holy Virgin to the Devouring Mother to the Doctor Spock mother and now the Activist Mother, we discover, despite the myths, that she was the childbearer and rearer and was usually good enough not to have suffered the slings and arrows of misogyny."
--E. M. Broner, author of A Weave of Women and The Telling

"Psychologist Shari L. Thurer unmasks the mythmakers . . . but [her] own advice is the most sound. The only good mother is a woman content with herself. So let's throw out our unattainable ideals about mothering and worry first about the status of women!"
--Ellen Chesler, author of Women of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America

"The Myths of Motherhood is an across-the-board, much-needed tribute to the well-being of the at-home mother that looks honestly at her frustrations, concerns and joys."
--San Francisco Chronicle

"A fascinating history of 30,000 years of mothering."
--New Woman

"Anyone interested in societal attitudes toward Mom, Dad and the kids, fromthe Stone Age on, will be fascinated."
--The Seattle Times

"Thurer effectively demonstrates how transient any one view of mothering is."
--Kirkus Reviews

"An enjoyable and highly informative account of the mostly lamentable fate of the institution of American motherhood . . . intriguing and consciousness raising."
--Sophie Freud, MSW, Ph.D. author of My Three Mothers & Other Passions

"Shari Thurer gives us a deeply satisfying book. While the information in it excites the brain, the insights soothe at the heart. I am giving copies of this book to my children, my parents, my students, my friends, and, in ultimate affirmation, myself."
--Faye J. Crosby, author of Juggling: The Unexpected Advantages of Balancing Career and Home for Women and Their Families

About the Author

Shari L. Thurer is a professor at Boston University and a psychoanalytically trained psychologist with a private practice. She has published widely in scholarly journals on the concept of the good mother. She lives with her husband and daughter in Boston.