Our Mother-Tempers

This book boldly states and deeply analyzes a commonplace observation about us all: our mothers play a powerful role in making us the kind of people we are. By the age of three, four, or five, virtually all children have learned to walk, talk, eat, sleep, control bodily functions, interact with other people, be male, or be female—insofar as these things are learned—from their mothers (or a mother surrogate who is female). Every mother has known and knows this. Most social analysts, accordin...