Why, after decades of social progress, is motherhood still so much harder than it needs to be?
The sentence on the back cover captured my attention. Eliane takes us on a thought provoking, sometimes shocking, journey of what it means to be a mother today.
It is a heavy, academic-style read, distracting at times with the studies and citations, but there is no denying its necessity. With the expectations of modern motherhood and bias only escalating post-pandemic, the gender gap still a hot topic and societal support at an all time low, this feels like essential reading right now.
The book travels chronologically, beginning at pregnancy and birth, exploring the biggest issues that present themselves in rearing children, such as work and childcare juggles, the invisible load and the media's attitude towards women. Spanning feminism, science, philosophy, politics and popular culture, Eliane leaves no stone unturned, helping us understand how becoming a mother is one of the biggest obstacles to achieving equality. By the end of the book you have a better understanding of your own anger and exhaustion.
Missing a strong focus on solutions and declarations, I wouldn’t agree with the promise of a ‘manifesto’ - rather an exposing, truth-telling, well-researched chunk of work. The author lets her personal opinion creep in in particular areas of high debate, such as drinking in pregnancy, spanking and the 'cry it out' method, which jars the high quality of the text at times, and I found myself scanning over these particular areas as a result. Nonetheless, I made notes and highlighted passages, I found out about countless things I didn't know before, and I found myself talking about it to other people, surely what every author sets out to achieve from their reader.
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