Motherdom : Breaking Free from Bad Science and Good Mother Myths

指責，羞辱與不足的證據:歡迎來到社會對於好母親的迷失，所塑造的醜陋世界。

當Alex Bollen迎來她的第一個孩子時，對於成為一個壞母親的恐懼讓她感到內疚和焦慮。作為一名擁有二十年研究經驗的學者，她開始尋找答案。令她驚訝的是，她所查閱的研究結果被誇大和曲解，並且在媒體上被錯誤地呈現，形成了她所稱之為的“好母親神話”。這些神話是一系列敘事、意識形態和刻板印象，旨在譴責母親，將所有社會問題歸咎於她們。

對於不實科學被用來羞辱母親的現象感到憤慨，Alex Bollen決定為真相發聲。通過嚴謹的研究和敏銳的洞察力，《母親國度》（Motherdom）揭露了那些脆弱的科學依據和無根據的教條，這些教條規定了母親應該如何“自然地”行事，像是對於分娩及餵奶的定義，這些關於大腦發展的虛假說法和不正確的依附理論，使得母親做什麼都無法滿足大家的期待。

這種情況必須停止。我們應該用一種現實的育兒觀念來取代“好母親神話”。Alex Bollen提出的“母親國度”（Motherdom）這一概念，是一種更為包容的母職觀，尊重並珍視每個人以不同方式養育孩子的選擇。與其對母親指責和挑剔，不如將焦點轉向孩子們成長所需的關係和資源，才能創造更美好的世界!

Blaming, shaming and flimsy evidence: welcome to the ugly world of Good Mother myths.

When Alex Bollen had her first baby, the fear of being a bad mother made her guilty and anxious. A researcher with twenty years’ experience, she went looking for answers. To her surprise the studies she looked at were exaggerated and misrepresented in the media, forming the foundation for what she calls Good Mother myths. These myths are an assortment of narratives, ideologies and stereotypes, deployed to censure mothers and blame them for every societal ill.

Incensed by the way bad science is used to shame mothers, Alex Bollen decided to set the record straight. With meticulous research and keen insight, Motherdom exposes both the shaky science and unjustified prescriptions about how mothers should ‘naturally’ behave. Competing visions of birth – ‘natural’ versus ‘medical’ – mean women can be criticised whatever happens, raising the odds that birth will be a damaging, even deadly, experience. Mothers are judged and belittled whether they breast- or bottle-feed their babies. Bogus claims about brain development and dodgy attachment theories mean that whatever mothers do, it is never enough.

This has to stop. We must replace Good Mother myths with a realistic approach to parenting. Alex Bollen proposes ‘motherdom’, a more expansive conception of motherhood, which values and respects the different ways people raise their children. Instead of finding fault with mothers, Motherdom shifts our focus to the relationships and resources children need to flourish.