The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender, Updated Edition

"The Reproduction of Mothering was that rare book that had a major impact on two different constituencies: feminists and psychoanalysts. It was a must-read in 1978, putting object-relations theory on the map in the United States, and it remains a must-read today. It continues to shape the thinking of analysts and feminists today, and it is one of the key texts available that links psyche and culture, psychoanalysis and sociology."--Ethel Spector Person, M.D., author of The Sexual Century

"The book that created a Copernican Revolution in gender theory. . . . From literature to political science, from disciples to critics, no feminist theory has been untouched by Chodorow's bold and brilliant reconfiguration."--Susan Bordo, author of Unbearable Weight and The Male Body

"The Reproduction of Mothering represents the boldest attempt to realign psychoanalysis and feminism in the late 20th century."--Mari Jo Buhle, author of Feminism and Its Discontents

"It is difficult to imagine the shape that feminist literary criticism might have taken in the last twenty years without the enabling influence of The Reproduction of Mothering. The importance of Chodorow's work cannot be overestimated."--Marianne Hirsch, author of The Mother/Daughter Plot

"The Reproduction of Mothering is a classic in its field, a book that has profoundly affected the course of psychoanalytic feminism."--Madelon Sprengnether, author of The Spectral Mother

"Nancy Chodorow's The Reproduction of Mothering has been an invaluable companion to me over the years. In theorizing the cultural situation of literary men as well as literary women, I've often turned to Chodorow's revisionary readings of Freud, her meticulous accounts of the dynamics of mothering, and, more generally, her innvotative discussions of sexual sociology."--Sandra M. Gilbert, coauthor of The Madwoman in the Attic

"A groundbreaking book, The Reproduction of Mothering has shaped feminist literary criticism since it was published. Chodorow's insights revolutionized the ways in which femininity itself was and is understood."--Susan Gubar, coauthor of The Madwoman in the Attic

When this best-seller was published, it put the mother-daughter relationship and female psychology on the map. The Reproduction of Mothering was chosen by Contemporary Sociology as one of the ten most influential books of the past twenty-five years. With a new preface by the author, this updated edition is testament to the formative effect that Nancy Chodorow's work continues to exert on psychoanalysis, social science, and the humanities.

Preface to the Second Edition

Preface to the Original Edition

PART I: SETTING THE PROBLEM: MOTHERING AND THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF GENDER

1. Introduction

2. Why Women Mother

3. Psychoanalysis and Sociological Inquiry

PART II: THE PSYCHOANALYTIC STORY

4. Early Psychological Development

5. The Relation to the Mother and the Mothering Relation

6. Gender Differences in the Preoedipal Period

7. Object-Relations and the Female Oedipal Configuration

8. Oedipal Resolution and Adolescent Replay

9. Freud: Ideology and Evidence

10. Conclusions on Post-Oedipal Gender Personality

PART III: GENDER PERSONALITY AND THE REPRODUCTION OF MOTHERING

11. The Sexual Sociology of Adult Life

12. The Psychodynamics of the Family