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The Fairy Tale by James Sant

In our Fall 2012 issue, Judith Warner explores the question of whether too much mothering is bad for you, in response to an ongoing trend of 24/7 intensive motherhood. She writes:

We continue to be resistant to thinking more broadly about the subject: about the ways our society—and particularly our glaring lack of a work-family policy—have created the high-pressure, high-stakes world of family life. It is, in large part, those premises that have produced the anxiety, isolation, and sense of overwhelmedness that go hand in hand with toxic levels of intensive mothering. Unfortunately, there remains, too, in America, a bias toward excessive child-centeredness, and a difficulty in focusing on “mothers as people,” as Columbia University Teachers College psychologist Suniya Luthar, who has surveyed more than 4,000 mothers over the past six years, likes to put it.

You can read Judith Warner’s entire essay, offering a new look at the social science, here at our website.

For further reading:

•  How to Raise a Child—a book review by Judith Warner at the New York Times
•  Family Way—another book review by Judith Warner at the New York Times
•  No More Mrs. Nice Mom, an article by Judith Warner at the New York Times magazine

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