
Mom
The Transformation of Motherhood in Modern America
Rebecca Jo Plant(Author)
University of Chicago Press
Published on 21. May 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
264 pages
978-0-226-67022-5 (ISBN)
Description
In the early twentieth century, Americans often waxed lyrical about "Mother Love", signaling a conception of motherhood as an all-encompassing identity, rooted in self-sacrifice and infused with social and political meaning. By the 1940s, the idealization of motherhood had waned, and the nation's mothers found themselves blamed for a host of societal and psychological ills. In "Mom", Rebecca Jo Plant traces this important shift by exploring the evolution of maternalist politics, changing perceptions of the mother-child bond, and the rise of new approaches to childbirth pain and suffering. Plant argues that the assault on sentimental motherhood came from numerous quarters. Male critics who railed against female moral authority, psychological experts who hoped to expand their influence, and women who strived to be more than wives and mothers - all for their own distinct reasons - sought to discredit the longstanding maternal ideal. By showing how motherhood ultimately came to be redefined as a more private and partial component of female identity, Plant illuminates a major reorientation in American civic, social, and familial life that still reverberates today.
Reviews / Votes
"Well written and thoroughly researched, the book provides an engaging examination of the cultural reconstruction of motherhood in the modern US." (Choice)"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 23 mm
Width: 16 mm
Thickness: 2 mm
Weight
369 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-67022-5 (9780226670225)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
03/2010
1st Edition
University of Chicago Press
€20.89
Available for download
Person
Rebecca Jo Plant is associate professor of history at the University of California, San Diego.