ABSTRACT
‘From the moment of birth the child grows towards the father,’ observed Margaret Mead. Is it so? In the first year it was clear to see what she meant. The mother was a sheet anchor. She fed and changed and comforted the child. Even women who, to their husbands, had seemed distinctly unmaternal responded like this. ‘Sue amazes me. She’s never been what you might call the lovey-dovey type. I couldn’t see her being bothered with the baby. But now she’s all over it. Even when she’s talking about something else, I can tell, Daniel is always at the back of her mind.’ This was true too of mothers who had been very articulate about equality and role-sharing. ‘She used to go on about it wasn’t going to be her baby. It was going to be our baby and I’d got to agree to pull my weight. Well I did. But I’m lucky to get a look in these days.’
