Erica Jong On Mother Madness

Parent Cafe
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<p>Did anyone catch Erica Jong’s essay on motherhood/parenthood in the WSJ?</p>

<p>See:</p>

<p>[Erica</a> Jong on the Madness of Modern Motherhood - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704462704575590603553674296.html]Erica”>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704462704575590603553674296.html)</p>

<p>There is also companion article by her daughter, who is now a mother of three.</p>

<p>I found Jong rather insufferable. She slapped together all the sensationalist headlines about parents for the last 15 years and assumes this has been the party line followed by clueless people with infants.</p>

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<p>Is she still p-oed that she didn’t write the Female Eunuch?</p>

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<p>Introductory sentence:</p>

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<p>Snarky comment about celebrity parents:</p>

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<p>(never mind that she already mentioned that breeding was no longer necessary because of all the abandoned children on the planet…)</p>

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<p>One of the dumbest things I’ve ever read in WSJ.</p>

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<p>Never was a fan of EJ.</p>

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<p>I * like* Madonna.
<B
[Madonna</a> Opens Up About Bullying - The Ellen DeGeneres Show](<a href=“http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2010/11/madonna_opens_up_about_bullying_1109.php]Madonna”>http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2010/11/madonna_opens_up_about_bullying_1109.php)</p>

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<p>I was a huge Erica Jong fan–I thought Fear of Flying was hilarious! I think this pair of essays is incredibly revealing, perhaps inadvertantly. I do think the modern fetishism of perfect motherhood–the concept that it is possible to be the perfect mother–is worth discussing. Really–you can only indulge the luxury of trying to be a perfect parent if you have enough money.</p>

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<p>–What it reveals is a couple generations of mothering pathology in one family.</p>

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<p>I actually read it recently, and some of the “love scenes” had some pretty revolting descriptions. One in particular was just completely gross. Kind of ruined it for me.</p>

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<p>“Mothering pathology”? How so? After all, EJ’s daughter ends up thanking her mother for making her own life possible. They both seem fairly content with their choices.</p>

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<p>I mean the grandma and the mom. </p>

<p>Of course none of our mothers were perfect. But most of us (unless we were abused) would thank our moms for having us and doing the best they could under the circumstances. I don’t think EJ made her daughter’s choices possible.
Her daughter’s choices are made possible by having a financially supportive husband.</p>

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<p>I thought the " free love" stuff was kinda gross- & while I admit I get a charge out of " shocking" people by wearing a fake nose ring & doc martens- I have to say- those people are pretty easily shocked!</p>

<p>I don’t see parents trying to be " perfect" but then perhaps I don’t watch the same television shows Ms.Jong does. ( not a lot of parenting going on, on * Bones* or * 30Rock* :wink: )
I see nothing wrong with trying to be a different parent than your own parent- or acknowledging that there is a bit of parenting " yourself" in your own style of parenting- but it seems that Ms Jong sure feels * guilty* about something- and she is mad as hell!</p>

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<p>I’m just trying to get my mind around the concept of the Wall Street Journal publishing an essay by Erica Jong.</p>

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<p>The best parenting advice is that from Dr. Spock, listed in the quotations in the WSJ:</p>

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<p>Some of the best advice I ever got was the first line of “The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care” </p>

<p>“Trust yourself, you know more than you think you do.” </p>

<p>This is great advice, not just for child rearing but for life in general.</p>

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<p>It isn’t the baby stuff that is hard & my first born came home before she weighed 4lbs.</p>

<p>I liked Leach myself- color pictures!
:)</p>