Mother Nature

Maternal Instincts and how They Shape the Human Species

Author: Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
ISBN: 9780345408938

Maternal instinct--the all-consuming, utterly selfless love that mothers lavish on their children--has long been assumed to be an innate, indeed defining element of a woman's nature. But is it? In this provocative, groundbreaking book, renowned anthropologist (and mother) Sarah Blaffer Hrdy shares a radical new vision of motherhood and its crucial role in human evolution. Hrdy strips away stereotypes and gender-biased myths to demonstrate that traditional views of maternal behavior are essentially wishful thinking codified as objective observation. As Hrdy argues, far from being "selfless," successful primate mothers have always combined nurturing with ambition, mother love with sexual love, ambivalence with devotion. In fact all mothers, in the struggle to guarantee both their own survival and that of their offspring, deal nimbly with competing demands and conflicting strategies. In her nuanced, stunningly original interpretation of the relationships between mothers and fathers, mot

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publish Date: 2000

Subjects: Science / Life Sciences / Evolution, Social Science / Women's Studies

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Women's Center (Location: STEM)