Books reviews, current events, and other musings

In The Mommy Myth, Susan Douglas and Meredith Michaels explain how American media and commercial culture fosters what they call the “New Momism”. According to this New Momism ideology, motherhood is an all-encompassing role that demands exacting, unachievable standards from mothers. Meanwhile, society provides scant support for mothers struggling to raise children under increasingly challenging circumstances.

In a couple of ways, the book was removed from my personal experience. As a childless guy, the perils of motherhood aren’t something I can relate to. Also, I’m not exposed to many of the cultural influences the authors discuss: local news, women’s magazines, Martha Stewart, Dr. Laura, etc. Their analysis of TV shows that I’ve seen, for example, was more interesting than the other topics. Though I can empathize with people facing different concerns, the book’s message would resonate a lot more with its target audience.

Still, the authors convinced me of their basic hypothesis. The media presents two extreme views: the super-involved perfectionist celebrity moms vs. the negligent welfare mothers, pressuring mothers to strive for the impossible standards of the former. Television and magazines exaggerate the risks that children face, while proclaiming that your child will fall behind and have problems unless she receives nonstop attention and a full assortment of consumer goods.

As one complaint, the authors dismissed what I view as a logical response to the difficulty in raising children: choosing not to have any. They challenged one cultural myth – that motherhood should supercede everything else in a mother’s life – while accepting the myth that all women should be mothers. Also, I was aggravated by the self-righteous tone when discussing social spending for mothers, even though I totally agree with their desire to increase such spending.

Half of the chapters were full of over-the-top hyperbole, while the other half were reasonably well written. After glancing at an excerpt from Susan Douglas’s Where the Girls Are, it’s clear that she wrote the better chapters. Meredith Michaels wrote a Nation article called The Belly Politic, and the annoying chapters of The Mommy Myth had similarly cloying titles.

For my perspective, the analysis of motherhood in the media was too verbose compared to what they had to say. For a superior analysis of related issues, read Ann Crittenden’s The Price of Motherhood about the economic angle and Susan Faludi’s Backlash regarding media treatment of women.