Motherhood - How Should We Care For Our Children?

(Moving beyond the motherwars and changing the way we see and act)

reviewer: Felicity Chapman

month entered: 08/2007

author: Anne Manne

year of publication: 2005

review:

Manne puts on her stethoscope and gives society a health check by listening to the heart-beat of young families and concludes that we are ignoring the needs of the very young. Jam packed with incisive and well researched comment, this book zooms right out and looks at the way our current institutions of family, economy, government, education and leisure interrelate with one another – and impact on how women do motherhood. 

Her unwavering advocacy for the child is interwoven with arguments against the focus on productivity, efficiency, performance, individualism, and consumption under the new capitalism without upholding it’s anti-thesis: unfettered and valued time spent “down among the children”.  Central to her argument is a call for policies that create greater choice for women to stay home when their children are very young.  Pointing to the successful Maternal Equity Policies in Europe, and Australian survey data on opinion about women staying at home when children are young, Manne strongly urges governments and families to rethink the way we raise our children. 

Sure to inflame the ardent feminist who might wrongly believe Manne is a traditionalist, Manne comments on how Maternal Feminism can be a valid inclusion to the argument for the emancipation of women.  “What about dads staying home?” I hear you ask.  Well, if you’re assuming that Manne expects mums to stay at home indefinitely and not pursue their career/paid work, then you’d better read the book to expand your perspective.  A refreshing take on the challenges that face a society caught up in much change and complexity.

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