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Reflections on<i>The Reproduction of Mothering</i>—Twenty Years Later
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The book attracted a diverse readership—including ordinary women, psychoanalysts, feminist scholars, and cultural theorists—and the author responds to criticisms raised by these groups. The reflections aim to address this broad audience by restating the book’s main contribution and explaining its lasting appeal. The conclusion highlights tensions between psychological understanding and social/political advocacy faced by feminists, psychoanalysts, and other proponents of liberatory change.
The Reproduction of Mothering attracted readers from a wide variety of backgrounds—ordinary women seeking to understand themselves; psychoanalysts and psychotherapists; feminist scholars from a range of disciplines including literature, philosophy, political theory, sociology, and anthropology; and social and cultural theorists. These reflections address all these readers. I restate what I see as the main contribution of the book, suggesting why it has had enduring appeal. In so doing, I also respond to criticisms or areas or unease articulated by feminists, social scientists, and psychoanalysts. In concluding, I point to tensions faced by feminists, psychoanalysts, and other proponents of liberatory change, between psychological Understanding and social and political advocacy.