Overview

Today, to be pregnant seems not far from entering into a religious order. There is an expectation that mothers will fit the bill of breastfeeding, nappy-washing, home-cooking supermums. So are mums who rely on formula, childcare and disposable nappies lazy or liberated? The conflict between a woman's individual identity and her identity as a mother is not unique to our time. In the 18th century, French women overcame the problem by shipping their newborns off to wet nurses. But not so anymore. Modern mothers are bombarded by advice from ecologists, breastfeeding advocates, behavioural specialists, even politicians. The pressure to be a perfect mother is overwhelming, and it's scaring women away. And why wouldn't it when the expectation is that your child will become your god and you its humble servant? In The Conflict Elisabeth Badinter, France's foremost feminist thinker, questions why our ideas of motherhood have been skewed by unachievable expectations that compromise notions of self and womanhood. No matter which side of the debate you stand on, this bold and revelatory book is essential reading.

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9781921758416

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<p> Impressively researched, elegantly argued and forcefully written... Badinter's warnings about the dangers of excessive child-centeredness are in many ways well founded. <br>-- The New York Times Book Review <p> The Conflict was first published in France, but its message is most pressing in the Anglophone world, where a vast industry peddling organic baby foods and anxiety is sucking the joy out of motherhood. Ms. Badinter's polemic is sardonic, urgent and gripping.... This is a cry for freedom. <br>-- The Wall Street Journal <p> Badinter's arguments are provocative and rigorous...Badinter's impressive imperative to own one's own life, to take rigorous and energetic responsibility, to cast off the silly or cowardly or frivolously domestic ways, seems very appealing, and refreshing and brisk. <br>-- Slate <p> Badinter highlights some alarming trends that are rarely questioned, thanks to current attitudes about the supremacy of the maternal role... She delivers sharp insights about the regressive turn of modern attitudes about motherhood. <br>-- Bookforum

`Badinter's impressive imperative to own one's own life, to take rigorous and energetic responsibility, to cast off the silly or cowardly or frivolously domestic ways, seems very appealing, and refreshing and brisk.' -- Katie Roiphe * Slate * `To say this woman is the voice of reason is an understatement. At a time when few dare to question multi-professionals, all clamouring to claim parenting as their own, she is indeed a breath of fresh air. Verdict: 185 pages of refreshingly pure commonsense.' * Courier Mail * `To have a child and a career; to be a woman and a mother- this is the familiar clash at the heart of the philosopher Badinter's latest book...Many of us know this from hard won experience. What worries Badinter so terribly is that we are no longer freely choosing but being duped by the rise of a pernicious naturalist ideology that dictates how we should mother.' * Sydney Morning Herald * `Motherhood is both sacred and contested. Small wonder this book caused a fuss in France...Perfect motherhood is the ideal but it is impossible. And it is scaring women away from parenting. Better to consider a tripartite model of women's lives: mother, wife, professional. An argument starter.' * Sunday Age *

Author Information

Philosopher Elisabeth Badinter is recognised as a leading feminist writer, both in France and internationally where her books have been translated into more than fifteen languages. Her publications include: L’Amour en plus, (Mother Love: Myth and reality) X/Y, De l’identité masculine (XY On Masculine Indentity), L’un est l’autre, and Fausse Route (Dead End Feminism).

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