Who Can Call Herself a Mother?
Who can call herself a mother? Although this may seem to be a simple question and one to which there is a simple answer, in fact it is very often a complex question and one without a self-evident answer. To say "I am a mother" is, for every woman, a profound life stage. Before she takes on...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia
2016-08-01
|
| Series: | Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.59158/001c.71165 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850108271856189440 |
|---|---|
| author | Anthony McCarthy |
| author_facet | Anthony McCarthy |
| author_sort | Anthony McCarthy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Who can call herself a mother? Although this may seem to be a simple question and one to which there is a simple answer, in fact it is very often a complex question and one without a self-evident answer.
To say "I am a mother" is, for every woman, a profound life stage. Before she takes on this name, the word will always be heard with particular reference to the internalised image of her own mother and her sense of what a mother is. This will be based on her own experience of being mothered and also on the cultural meanings attached to motherhood and the position of women and motherhood generally in her society. But the image will always be of a duality, a mother and a baby. Therefore, in pregnancy, before there is a baby in the "outside world", for her to begin to identify with this image of mother and to "know" she is becoming a mother, will be a deeply subjective process involving the imagination. It is this imagining of when and how she can call herself a mother that this paper will address |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-daa505b0355944d68e979f6b4f5a5d8a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2201-7089 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-08-01 |
| publisher | Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia |
| spelling | doaj-art-daa505b0355944d68e979f6b4f5a5d8a2025-08-20T02:38:25ZengPsychotherapy and Counselling Federation of AustraliaPsychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia2201-70892016-08-014110.59158/001c.71165Who Can Call Herself a Mother?Anthony McCarthyWho can call herself a mother? Although this may seem to be a simple question and one to which there is a simple answer, in fact it is very often a complex question and one without a self-evident answer. To say "I am a mother" is, for every woman, a profound life stage. Before she takes on this name, the word will always be heard with particular reference to the internalised image of her own mother and her sense of what a mother is. This will be based on her own experience of being mothered and also on the cultural meanings attached to motherhood and the position of women and motherhood generally in her society. But the image will always be of a duality, a mother and a baby. Therefore, in pregnancy, before there is a baby in the "outside world", for her to begin to identify with this image of mother and to "know" she is becoming a mother, will be a deeply subjective process involving the imagination. It is this imagining of when and how she can call herself a mother that this paper will addresshttps://doi.org/10.59158/001c.71165 |
| spellingShingle | Anthony McCarthy Who Can Call Herself a Mother? Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia |
| title | Who Can Call Herself a Mother? |
| title_full | Who Can Call Herself a Mother? |
| title_fullStr | Who Can Call Herself a Mother? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Who Can Call Herself a Mother? |
| title_short | Who Can Call Herself a Mother? |
| title_sort | who can call herself a mother |
| url | https://doi.org/10.59158/001c.71165 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anthonymccarthy whocancallherselfamother |