After learning about the “ten ideological commandments” of the patriarchal institution of motherhood in the class lecture, I would like to dedicate the first section of this journal to discuss the ways in which sensitive mothering may enact many of the ten commandments. To start, it is argued that by attempting to make daily domestic chores a teaching opportunity for her children, the sensitive mother ultimately engages in gendered education in which she …show more content…
Walkerdine and Lucey provide an example of the ranking by comparing the practices of Amanda’s mother, a good mother who helps her child understand abstract concepts with Dawn’s mother, a supposed bad mother who ignores her child’s educational ambition (). This ranking is inaccurate because arguments of strengths and weaknesses can be made for both mothering practices. While Amanda’s mother, who practices sensitive mothering, is furthering the educational prospects of her child by never discipling the child overtly, she provides Amanda with a false sense of independence which may be threatened when Amanda enters the public sphere. Similarly, while Dawn’s mother may be raising her child to learn skills of independence by ignoring educational opportunities, she deprives her child of any opportunity in developing crucial intellectual skills at a young