Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood

"Much of 'The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood' reads as if it were inspired by Thorstein Veblen's caustic 'The Theory of the Leisure Class', which ascribes the elaborate social and housekeeping rituals of nineteenth-century middle-class housewives to capitalist-driven 'conspicuous consumption' and the demands of class position. Ultimately, notions of effective childrearing can't be separated from equally subjective notions of what constitutes a good society. Intensive mothering promotes a capitalist vision of individualism and infinite resources; in the worst-case scenario, the child gets to plunder the mother like an old-growth forest, without regard for consequences. Kibbutzniks raised collectively may lack the individuation and initiative of intensively mothered little entrepreneurs, but they are more likely to focus on the common good....Hays's intellectually incendiary 'Cultural Contradictions' could add needed nuance to feminist thought--and perhaps ignite change in mothers' overburdened lives."Hays, Sharon is the author of 'Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood', published 1998 under ISBN 9780300076523 and ISBN 0300076525.