The Mother Wound

This morning I came across an article that talked about the difficulties and challenges experienced between mothers and daughters which are often not openly spoken about.  The root of these issues is the "Mother Wound", the "pain of being a woman passed down through generations of women in patriarchal cultures".

According to Bethany Webster, the author of this article, our patriarchal, male-dominated culture has conditioned women to think of themselves as “less-than” and not deserving or worthy.  When such “less-than” feelings are internalised and passed down unconsciously, they often form "limiting beliefs" about one's own true potential and power.  When the daughter does recognise them as such and decides to actualise her own potential, then she does so with the risk of possibly being rejected to some degree by her mother where upon seeing her daughter embracing empowerment may trigger sadness or rage within the mother at having had to give up parts of herself in her own life.

The Mother Daughter Bond

As women, our bond with our mother is probably one of the more power relationships that we may ever form.  Whether we realise it or not, this relationship sets the stage for all the other relationships that we will have.  Or so is the view of Bronwyn McNutty, the author of the article from which the following excerpt has been taken.

 

For better or for worse, what does our relationship with our mother say about us?  How has this relationship impacted upon the future relationships we form?  No relationship is perfect or indeed easy.  Drew Barrymore, Megan Ryan and Britney Spears have all had very public bust-ups with their own mothers.  Yet that bond with the first person of our gender can have a much deeper and lasting impact on us than we may actually realise.