Reflections on The Reproduction of Mothering—Twenty Years Later

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.