02964cam a2200337 i 4500 2015808921 TxAuBib 20250310120000.0 240731s2025||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2024034015 9781250336644 1250336643 (OCoLC)1429659272 TxAuBib rda Reddy, Nancy, 1982-, author. The good mother myth : unlearning our bad ideas about how to be a good mom / Nancy Reddy. First edition. New York : St. Martin's Press, 2025. 247 pages ; 22 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references and index. Introduction: 'Love is a wondrous state' -- A perfect monkey mother -- Overly attached -- An ordinary devoted mother -- Strange situation -- You know more than you think -- Many warm, friendly people -- Relearning the nature of love -- Coda: 'Love is not a given but a gift' -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index. "Timely and thought-provoking, Nancy Reddy unpacks and debunks the bad ideas that have for too long defined what it means to be a "good" mom. When Nancy Reddy had her first child, she found herself suddenly confronted with the ideal of a perfect mother-a woman who was constantly available, endlessly patient, and immediately invested in her child to the exclusion of all else. Reddy had been raised by a single working mother, considered herself a feminist, and was well on her way to a PhD. Why did doing motherhood "right" feel so wrong? For answers, Reddy turned to the mid-20th century social scientists and psychologists whose work still forms the basis of so much of what we believe about parenting. It seems ludicrous to imagine modern moms taking advice from midcentury researchers. Yet, their bad ideas about so-called "good" motherhood have seeped so pervasively into our cultural norms. In The Good Mother Myth, Reddy debunks the flawed lab studies, sloppy research, and straightforward misogyny of researchers from Harry Harlow, who claimed to have discovered love by observing monkeys in his lab, to the famous Dr. Spock, whose bestselling parenting guide included just one (1!) illustration of a father interacting with his child. This timely and thought-provoking book will make you laugh, cry, and want to scream (sometimes all at once). Blending history of science, cultural criticism, and memoir, The Good Mother Myth pulls back the curtain on the flawed social science behind our contemporary understanding of what makes a good mom"-- Provided by publisher. 20250310. Motherhood Social aspects. Motherhood Psychological aspects. Motherhood Public opinion. TXKIP