Sunday, April 8, 2012

Mama's Boy

Well hello Beautiful.
Where've you been all these months?

It's April and DPR has been a lil quiet.
Hibernating.

But there's a fire on, a good rain outside, and a stack of books to crack.  

Have you finished the trilogy?
The one with hornets?
The one with Katniss?
I haven't begun, but I think it's exciting when our gardener, housekeeper and in-house chiropractor are all reading the same series and loving it equally.
I'm kidding.  I don't have any of those people in my life.  But if I did, I know they'd be showing up to work with Mockingjay tucked under their arm. 
And I'd be all, "Put that down and decompress my spine.  Stat."

Now you know my most shameful fantasy. 
Vertabral adjustment while someone plants things for me and shows me what are weeds and what are non-weeds.  The latter so that I don't carefully cut some weeds and place them in a pretty jar on my kitchen table only to have a friend point out that those things I'm watering each day?  Weeds.  
And the latter so that I don't throw my back out cutting non-plants to bring in and adorn my table.

Look.  I'm sidetracked again, and I came here just to say one thing.
I read this interview about this book and wanted to share it with you, and see what you parents of lads think.  And what you non-parents of non-lads think.  What you brothers of goats think.  And goats.  Anyone really.  No qualifications necessary.




Here's the book:

The Mama's Boy Myth
 (from NPR)

And here's a quote from the article:
Her starting point was that mothers and sons face a stigmatization that other parent-child relationships don't. Mothers and daughters, she says, have no problems. "I'm very close to my daughter, and it doesn't raise any eyebrows," she says. Similarly, father-son relationships are viewed as very important, and even father-daughter relationships are valued. "But mothers and sons — that relationship is always looked at with a little skepticism and a little fear."
Is the Oedipus complex really still tossed around at playgroups?  I thought that was so 2010.  What do I know.
Goats? 

4 comments:

  1. Mary, a woman once told me that she was "in love with" her son. "Oh," I said. "I know what you mean. I'm in love with my daughter, too." "No," she professed; "I mean, I am IN love with him, like, in this kinda sexual way."
    And since that day, I have been wary of mother-son relationships, even though I have a son of my own. I once read an essay about this; that being a "mama's boy" signaled a kind of weakness, except in some cultures where it's a sign of respect for women. I guess I want to read that book, and now is a good time to do it... thanks for the reading suggestion.

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  2. Oh, and yeah, I'm reading The Trilogy, about which I just blogged (um, some weeks ago). Worth it.

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  3. Well I have two boys. They are 2 and 5. I love them. At the moment they are both climbing on me and screaming "Mommy I need some water". So, I can't say how i feel about 'mamma's' boys because right now i am just wishing they were 'anyone else's' boys so that i could write this comment without having to keep deleting the mistakes because they keep bumping my elbows and won't leave me alone. Maybe when the are 16 I can comment. Or, maybe I should just read the book.

    But I will say that while I love them both very much, when I look at them the furthest thing from my mind is sex or anything the least bit sexual, since that is what got me into this mess in the first place.

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  4. Monica--- Why do I picture this conversation taking place while you are in line at Target? If life is material, you've been given a gem.
    Also, reminds me of The Kissing Family skit.
    Your post on Hunger Games---I love this line from it: "Our kids'--but mostly, our girls'--perceptions and imaginings about their own strength, intuition, and sense of self will be edified."

    Allison---Anyone Else's Boys. I think we have another book right here. It could be the sequel to Mama's Boys.

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