Abstract
This chapter is a memoir of Nancy Chodorow’s first PhD student. It attempts to capture the intellectual, social, and political context out of which The Reproduction of Mothering was written and received. As an undergraduate in the early 1970s, Ilene Philipson was searching for an intellectual foundation to explain women’s second sex status that transcended the deliberate socialization model, which was then hegemonic. In finding the work of Nancy Chodorow, Philipson describes discovering a model for understanding the differences between men and women that finally spoke to the tenacity and emotional nature of our gendered sense of self. Philipson argues that The Reproduction of Mothering continues to inspire through its message that, although change is very hard to effect, there is hope emanating from serious reflection, well-grounded and open intellectual inquiry, and the capacity to see the world anew.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Mary Jane Sherfey, The Nature and Evolution of Female Sexuality (New York: Random House, 1972).
- 2.
Shulamith Firestone, The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution (London: Paladin, 1972).
- 3.
Kate Millett, Sexual Politics (New York: Doubleday and Co., 1970), 334.
- 4.
Matina Horner, “Toward an Understanding of Achievement-Related Conflicts in Women,” Journal of Social Issues 28, no. 2 (1972): 157–175.
- 5.
Juliet Mitchell, Psychoanalysis and Feminism: Freud, Reich, Laing and Women (New York: Pantheon Books, 1974), xv.
- 6.
Mitchell, Psychoanalysis and Feminism, 354.
- 7.
Jean Strouse, Women and Analysis: Dialogues on Psychoanalytic Views of Femininity (New York: Grossman Publishers, 1974).
- 8.
Strouse, Women and Analysis, 3.
- 9.
Robert Stoller, “Facts and Fancies: An Examination of Freud’s Concept of Bisexuality,” in Women and Analysis: Dialogues on Psychoanalytic Views of Femininity, ed. Jean Strouse (New York: Grossman Publishers, 1974), 343–364
- 10.
Robert J. Stoller, Sex and Gender: On the Development of Masculinity and Femininity (London: Karnac, 1984); Robert J. Stoller, Splitting: A Case of Female Masculinity (New York: Quadrangle, 1973).
- 11.
Stoller, “Facts and Fancies,” 358.
- 12.
Michelle Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere, Women, Culture and Society (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974).
- 13.
Nancy Chodorow, “Family Structure and Feminine Personality,” in Women, Culture and Society, eds. Rosaldo and Lamphere, 43.
- 14.
Nancy Chodorow, “Oedipal Asymmetries and Heterosexual Knots,” Social Problems 23, no. 4, (1976): 454–468.
- 15.
Ilene Philipson, Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, https://icpla.edu/member-search/ilene-philipson-ph-d/.
- 16.
Nancy Chodorow, The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978), 67.
Bibliography
Chodorow, Nancy, “Family Structure and Feminine Personality.” In Women, Culture and Society in Women, Culture and Society, eds. Rosaldo and Lamphere. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974, 43–66.
———, “Oedipal Asymmetries and Heterosexual Knots.” Social Problems 23, no. 4 (1976): 454–468.
———, The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978.
Firestone, Shulamith, The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution. London: Paladin, 1972.
Horner, Matina, “Toward an Understanding of Achievement-Related Conflicts in Women.” Journal of Social Issues 28, no. 2 (1972): 157–175.
Millett, Kate, Sexual Politics. New York: Doubleday and Co., 1970.
Mitchell, Juliet, Psychoanalysis and Feminism: Freud, Reich, Laing and Women. New York: Pantheon Books, 1974.
Philipson, Ilene, Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis. https://icpla.edu/member-search/ilene-philipson-ph-d/.
Rosaldo, Michelle, and Louise Lamphere, Women, Culture and Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974.
Sherfey, Mary Jane, The Nature and Evolution of Female Sexuality. New York: Random House, 1972.
Stoller, Robert J., “Facts and Fancies: An Examination of Freud’s Concept of Bisexuality.” In Women and Analysis: Dialogues on Psychoanalytic Views of Femininity, ed. Jean Strouse. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1974, 343–364.
———, Sex and Gender: On the Development of Masculinity and Femininity. London: Karnac, 1984.
———, Splitting: A Case of Female Masculinity. New York: Quadrangle, 1973.
Strouse, Jean, ed., Women and Analysis: Dialogues on Psychoanalytic Views of Femininity. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1974.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Philipson, I. (2021). The Reproduction of Mothering: A Love Story. In: Bueskens, P. (eds) Nancy Chodorow and The Reproduction of Mothering. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55590-0_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55590-0_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-55589-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-55590-0
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)