bookshelf

THE CASE AGAINST WOMEN RAISING CHILDREN

Name: THE CASE AGAINST WOMEN RAISING CHILDREN
Author: Kathleen A. Ryan Carlsson
ISBN: 0-978-7388-6176-0

by Kathleen A. Ryan Carlsson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2000

Intriguing and fact-filled study of the history and future of parenting.

bookshelf

A unique approach to gender and parenting roles uses scientific studies to evaluate the value of the mother as primary caregiver.

The price women pay and the sacrifices they make by assuming (and continuing to assume) the role of primary parent is too high, says Carlsson, who takes a fresh look at male and female gender issues by studying the corresponding dependence women incur when acting as primary parent. Women’s role as the primary caregiver has been questioned before, but here the author takes a deeper look into the issue by asking whether both mother and child might benefit more by stepping out of this construct. Carlsson uses numerous scientific studies to illustrate how, by acting as primary parent, women are hindered in their personal and professional growth. She argues this most forcefully with references to evolution and the comparison of animal behaviors to those of humans. Using numerous case studies, Carlsson evaluates men, their past traditional and more modern roles in childcare and its effect on women, children and the family as a whole. One question she addresses is whether men and women think differently or are simply trained differently. Although the author maintains that the debate over nature vs. nurture remains open, she uses numerous resources to argue that child, mother and family as a whole are hurt by gender-based parenting roles. Animal behaviors, and the subsequent evolutionary roles women have assumed, are the core of the discussion here against women as primary parent. As long as they are so, Carlsson says, they remain dependent on the male benefactor. With the dissolution of the primary-vs.-secondary standard, evolution will continue and thus eliminate this gender-based infraction against women’s independence and growth.

Intriguing and fact-filled study of the history and future of parenting.

Pub Date: March 14, 2000

ISBN: 0-978-7388-6176-0

Page Count: 170

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.