Abstract
This article discusses and deconstructs the myth of 'motherly love' by contrasting it with fieldwork on Israeli parents' reactions to their appearance-impaired child. The ethnography of these reactions presents a common pattern of rejection - alternatively consisting of both the abandonment of the child at the hospital and of various forms of abuse at home. The article concludes by re-thinking the issue of 'motherly love' and 'bonding' as conditioned on some deeply-ingrained parental expectations regarding the appearance of their child.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 87-105 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Social Science Journal |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1998 |