Ambivalence of motherhood and the concept of love as a pivotal feature of the subjective maternal myth

Sorokina Ekaterina Nikolaevna

Analysing the characteristics and formation of the subjective and objective maternal myth, the article shows that ambivalence is an integral part of various aspects and stages of motherhood and its formation. One of the most important features of the maternal myth is obligation in the concept of love for children. The article examines the attitudes of the subjective maternal myth regarding this “basic maternal obligation”, namely, how women imagine what it means that “a mother should love her children”. It demonstrates that the ambivalence of motherhood (and hence the internal conflict) appears in all types of understanding of mother's love. To help mothers, it is suggested that practitioners use the coaching approach, and consider the ambivalence of motherhood as a tool and source of resources for motherhood of a particular mother.

Keywords:motherhood, mothering, image of mother, archetypal image of mother, “beautiful” mother, “terrible” mother, “bad” mother, “good” mother, “good enough” mother, maternal myth.