ABSTRACT
My reading of The Reproduction of Mothering emphasizes the contradictions that appear in Chodorow's account of mothering as a result of her attempt to combine different versions of psychoanalysis in her theoretical framework. I argue that, given this complex theoretical framework, Chodorow's account of mothering is susceptible to feminist theory's well-established critique of Freudian psychoanalysis for its complicity with essential motherhood, as well as to Ruddick's critique of Lacanian psychoanalysis for its problematic account of maternal subjectivity. In addition, I show that Chodorow's object relations theory recuperates significant elements of the individualist concept of subjectivity. These arguments indicate the persistence of the dilemma of difference in Chodorow's account of mothering. The interplay of identity and difference that results from feminism's conflicted relationship to individualism is evident in the theoretical framework of Chodorow's account of mothering and explains the contradictory conclusions about mothering that she draws. The persistence of the dilemma of difference in Chodorow's work supports my conclusions that psychoanalytic approaches to mothering include significant risks for feminist theory, and that psychoanalytic approaches alone are not sufficient for analyzing the material, social, and ideological over-determination of the experience and the representation of mothering.
