Mother Daughter Revolution: From Betrayal To Power - Hardcover

Debold, Elizabeth; Malave, I.; Wilson, M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0201632772 ISBN 13: 9780201632774

Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books, 1993

Synopsis

A guide for building empowering new relationships between mother and daughter offers strategies for overcoming the common crises that result in diminished potential and loss of self-esteem for adolescent girls. 75,000 first printing. $100,000 ad/promo. Tour.

About this title

About the Author

Elizabeth Debold is a member of the Harvard Project and a consultant. Idelisse Malave, mother of a ten-year-old girl, is a lawyer and Vice-President of the Ms. Foundation. Marie Wilson, mother of two grown daughters, is the President of the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Reviews

How should mothers help their daughters face adolescence? Based mostly on their joint research into the history and present status of women, Harvard Project consultant Debold and Wilson and Malave, president and vice-president, respectively, of the Ms. Foundation, respond to that question in this intense feminist tract. Contending that "separation is not necessary to a daughter's self-esteem," they further suggest that with closeness to their daughters, mothers can "support girls in resisting the unnecessary losses they experience in growing into womanhood: losses of voice, of freedom, of power to do and be in the world." The authors charge that popular cultural patterns are aggravated by the "betrayal" of mothers, who, eager to avoid risk, pass on to their daughters the self-negating attitudes that have been considered desirable in women in a patriarchal society. In addition to bonding of mother and daughter, the authors advocate family support with the father as "ally." Most of all, they declare, daughters must know that women are serious about "making the world a place where they dare to be whole, true, and powerful." 75,000 first printing; $100,00 ad/promo; BOMC and QPB featured alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A powerful argument for mothers and daughters of any age to reassess their relationships, bury antagonisms, and become allies in revolutionizing how girls grow up. Carol Gilligan's recent study for the Harvard Project on Women's Psychology and Girls' Development--which revealed that girls experience a rapid drop in self-esteem, confidence, and assertiveness as they enter adolescence--provides the launch pad for this narrative--which, with unusual insight, explores the development of girls from curious, enthusiastic, and courageous kids into self-conscious, self-effacing teenagers as they ``hit the wall'' of awareness of the vulnerability of their developing bodies and of society's expectations for women. Debold (a member of the Harvard Project) and Wilson and Malav‚ (president and vice president, respectively, of the Ms. Foundation for Women) point out that mothers, consciously or unconsciously, teach their daughters not how to breach the wall but how to survive in a man's world. As their mothers turn them over to the patriarchy, girls feel abandoned and betrayed, bereft of the ``most intense loving'' they may have in their lives: their love for their mothers. The authors explore eloquently and convincingly how sex, politics, myth, science, class, and race play a part in stilling the young voices, even among loving families committed to opportunity for women and also to ``good'' mothering--which includes, for instance, protecting daughters from harm and teaching them how to protect themselves through strategies conforming to society's image of what women should be. The authors recommend a different strategy, whereby mothers and daughters learn from each other about who they are and how their behavior is shaped by sexism. Disturbing as well as empowering: a blueprint for a social reformation that begins at the beginning, with the intimacy of mother and daughter. (First printing of 75,000) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Three feminists join forces to explain the loss of self-esteem that affects females during early adolescence and to offer mothers sound advice on helping daughters resist sexist attitudes and behavior. They show how adolescent girls in a patriarchal society are expected to give up their ambitions, desires, and even their rights in order to fit the mold of the perfect woman. Traditional mother-daughter separation during adolescence leaves young women at the mercy of a culture that instills feelings of inadequacy and imperfection. The authors argue that mothers can show daughters how to "resist living through the survival strategies of the romance story and the consuming cult of beauty" by maintaining a very close and supportive relationship. The guidelines presented here are both insightful and persuasive. This well-written and well-documented book is highly recommended for most libraries.
- Ilse Heidmann Ali, Kyle Community Lib., Tex.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0201632772
• ISBN 13: 9780201632774
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 299