Mother-son Relationship Research Articles

The Story of a Widowed Mother: The Mother-Son Relationship in The Record of So Hyonsong

The Story of a Widowed Mother: The Mother-Son Relationship in The Record of So Hyonsong

Tematizări (neo)shakespeariene în rescrierea Hamletului: un nor în formă de cămilă de Alina Nelega

The study focuses on ways to resignify the themes and characters of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, ways in which the novel un nor în formă de cămilă by Alina Nelega rewrites in the narrative the influential play from the perspective of its affective dimension, with emphasis on the mother–son relationship. The procedures of updating the plot and valuing a secondary character in the hypotext (Gertrude), as well as transforming a heterotopic, theatrical space into a supercharacter who ends up playing the role of destiny for the human universe involved are the lines on which the analysis of this recent Shakespearean palimpsest develops. The study also provides a comparative insight into the versions of Shakespeare's tragedy in contemporary times in order to reveal the regenerative capacity of masterpieces.

A Transitivity Analysis of D. H. Lawrence’s The Rocking Horse Winner

This study uses Halliday’s transitivity approach to analyze D. H. Lawrence’s The Rocking-Horse Winner. The purpose is to provide a linguistic analysis of the literary work by Lawrence to see how far the linguistic approaches to literary texts conform to the literary analyses of the same texts. The study uses a framework based on Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar, in which process types are identified in the text and then used to arrive at an interpretation of the text based on the linguistic analysis. The linguistic outcomes correspond with the psychological interpretations of the story. In addition, the mother-son relationship is recurrent in D. H. Lawrence’s fiction. This further supports the connection between the linguistic and the literary interpretation of the story and shows how a linguistic analysis may lead to one based on literary approaches.

Living well or not? Quality of life of parental living liver donors: A cross-sectional study.

The aim of this study was to gain comprehensive insight into the quality of life of parental living liver donors after liver donation. Several studies reported good quality of life of living liver donors with the SF-36 scale. Care demand from the recipient and responsibility of being parent might make a difference in parental donors' personal experienced quality of life after transplantation surgery. It is a cross-sectional study. The parental donors' demographics, clinical data and post-donation complications were obtained. Quality of life was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study SF-36 and the Quality of Life Scale of Living Organ Donors-Common Module. The enrolled participants were contacted by electronic questionnaires and telephonic interview. A total of 345 parental donors were included, with recruited period ranging from 3 to 85 months post-donation. 8.1% of donors had post-operative complications, mostly classified as Clavien grade II. Donors' general quality of life was higher than the Chinese general norm. Issues related to surgical incision, fatigue, worries about income and personal health, effects on work capability, increased medical expenses and difficult reimbursement and suspected donation decision were the prominent problems among donors. Mother-son relationship (OR = 1.87) and equal or less than 2 years after donation (OR = 3.08) were the influencing factors for poor physical quality of life, while unmarried status (e.g. divorced or widowed) was found negatively associated with mental quality of life (adjusted OR = 3.61). General health among parental donors is good but those female, unmarried and near post-donation might in low life quality. Incision, fatigue, finance, reimbursement and donation decision are prominent problems. Post-donation care of living donors should cover social and financial domain besides physical and mental dimension. Providing follow-up care and counselling is necessary to ensure their life quality.

The Tangled Roots of Family, Forest, and Farm

When my family started stewarding eight acres in British Columbia, Canada, we encountered a pervasive pioneer species or “weed”—quackgrass—that grows long roots and chokes out other plants. This paper counterposes the behaviour of these competitive and embinding roots with the cooperative mutual interrelation of forest root systems. Using these two roots as metaphors for the pleasures and pitfalls of family, I will make an argument for family farming that both honours and resists the tangle of rootedness that is embodied in the symbiotic relationship of mother and sons. I paint a picture of a political project of regeneration and flourishing that is founded on deep love and affinity for the land and for each other. While I critique the constraints of family, the mother-son relationship emerges in this essay as a historically embedded and potentially generative form of community.

URDU-DIFFERENT OPINIONS OF JURISTS CONCERNING UN MARRIAGEABILITY DUE TO BREAST-FEEDING: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Islam has allowed breastfeeding; feeding a child with the milk of a woman other than its mother is also allowed. Breast feeding of a woman other than mother may be needed for many reasons, for example, when child’s mother dies or she is not producing sufficient milk for child's nutrition, or she is busy with work, or she does not have sufficient time to breastfeed her child. There is the chance that mother may go out for several days, likewise there are many other reasons which prove that she is unable to breastfeed her child. In such cases, Islam allows a child to be nursed by any other woman so that child can be nourished properly. According to this, the Islamic Shariah commandments are proven; for example, a mother-son relationship is established between a breastfeeding woman and a breastfeed child, due to which all the relationships connected with the breastfeeding woman are associated to this child as well. On the one hand, a relationship of un-marriageability is established between them, due to which marital relation between them is illegal and veil orders are also lifted in front of such child.

Violence as a Safeguard against Hostility: Black Mother-to-Son Parenting in Richard Wright’s Black Boy

Richard Wright (1908- 1960), an African American author, has grown up in the American South at a time when the American society has witnessed deep division, for together with the Whites vs. Blacks conflict there has been The Blacks vs. Blacks tension likewise, and violence has formed the dominant behavior between the conflicting groups. Wright’s autobiographical novel, Black Boy, shows how he has been reared by a mother who believes that violence is the only effective strategy to protect her son from their violent environment. The misery and hardships the mother, Ella Wright, has undergone in her larger society as well as with her family and separated husband, have led her to adopt this strategy. She uses violence to teach her son the priority of family, religion, and beyond everything else she teaches him violence itself as a means of self-protection. Albeit this strategy affects the mother-son relationship negatively on the part of the son at the beginning, the son’s intellectual maturity minimizes its significance, and he gradually starts to generate sympathy and show deep understanding towards his mother. The article discusses Wright’s mother use of violence as a method for bringing up her son, Richard Wright in his autobiography, Black Boy. It also examines the impact of this method upon Richard’s relationship with his mother and how he perceives her maternal role. Finally, the conclusion sums up the main findings of the article.

Father-daughter and mother-son relationships: Parental bonding behaviours and socially prescribed perfectionism in young adults

Theory and research suggest that parental bonding behaviours (i.e., overprotection and care) are important predictors of socially prescribed perfectionism. However, despite evidence suggesting that maternal and paternal behaviours may differ in their effects on children's development and their mental health outcomes, no studies thus far have investigated whether maternal and paternal bonding behaviours differentially influence socially prescribed perfectionism in sons and daughters. Therefore, we investigated the extent to which maternal and paternal overprotection and care predicted socially prescribed perfectionism in young men and women. A total of 456 undergraduate students (228 men and 228 women) completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and Parental Bonding Instrument for both parents. After controlling for self-oriented and other-oriented perfectionism, results from hierarchical regression analyses indicated that women's levels of socially prescribed perfectionism were positively predicted by perceived paternal overprotection and negatively predicted by paternal care, but not perceived maternal overprotection or care. In contrast, men's levels of socially prescribed perfectionism were positively predicted by perceived maternal overprotection and negatively predicted by maternal care, but not perceived paternal overprotection or care. This study contributes to the existing perfectionism literature by highlighting possible gender-specific parental behaviours in the development of perfectionism.

Why bonobos show a high reproductive skew towards high-ranking males: analyses for association and mating patterns concerning female sexual states.

Among non-human primates, male dominance rank is not necessarily a good indicator of mating success, and relationships between male dominance rank and mating or reproductive success are affected by female behavior and sexual states implying their probability of conception. Although comparisons of the behavior of male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) suggest that the effect of male dominance rank on mating success is expected to be less prominent in bonobos, recent genetic studies have shown that high-ranking male reproductive skew is higher in bonobos than in chimpanzees. One possible reason for the higher reproductive skew in bonobos could be that female behavior and their sexual states may have much more influence on male mating and reproductive success in bonobos than in chimpanzees. In the current study on bonobos, we conducted focal animal observation of females and analyzed the influence of female sexual swelling, the number of days after parturition, and dominance rank of males on female associations, and copulation with adult males. Our results showed that females with maximum swelling (MS) had more proximity with high-ranking males and copulated more frequently with higher-ranking males than with lower-ranking males. Females for whom longer time had elapsed since parturition, and therefore had higher probabilities of conception, had 5-m proximity with adult males more frequently than females whom shorter time had elapsed since parturition, but did not have more copulation with adult males. Females with MS had proximity and copulated with high-ranking males frequently, which partly explains why the reproductive skew is so high in bonobos. These results are discussed in relation to previous hypotheses on the influence of long-lasting mother-son relationships on mating success of males and on the contribution of female receptivity during non-conceptive nursing periods to moderate intermale aggression in bonobos.

"Family before Anyone Else": A Qualitative Study on Family, Marginalization, and HIV among Hispanic or Latino/a/x Mexican Sexual Minority Males.

This study explored the influence family relationships have on HIV-related factors among Hispanic or Latino/a/x Mexican sexual minority cisgender males in San Antonio, TX, US. A total of 15 young adults (7 people living with HIV; PLWH) ages 21–30 completed a semi-structured interview. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis. The following themes emerged: (1) family support; (2) mother-son relationships; (3) father-son relationships; (4) sibling support; (5) family marginalization of sexual minorities; and (6) internalized homophobia. People who reported being HIV negative were more likely to have a prominent mother-son relationship, strong sense of family, supportive siblings, and family acceptance as a sexual minority. PLWH were more likely to report a weak sense of family, being raised in a maternal-led household, and less likely to have a relationship with their father and siblings. Marginalization among participants regardless of HIV status included exposure to religious rhetoric stigmatizing sexual minorities and fathers’ reinforcing Mexican traditional gender norms. In addition to encountering homophobia, PLWH were further marginalized by family members due to their HIV status. The findings suggest a need for greater attention to examining the impact of familial support of Hispanic or Latino/a/x Mexican sexual minority cisgender males as young adults with or at risk of HIV.

Особливості трансформації образу Великої Матері в новелі Д.Г. лоренса «Прекрасна дама»

The article aims at analyzing the specifics of image modeling of the Lovely Lady in the short story by D.H. Lawrence, “The Lovely Lady”. The task is to distinguish the artistic components of the image of the main character. The study has been conducted using elements of motive-based, receptive-interpretive, psychoanalytic, and comparative methods of analysis. In the short story “The Lovely Lady” D.H. Lawrence artistically depicts the latent struggle for a man between a young woman/potential daughter-in-law and an old mother/future mother-in-law. The title of the story, which refers to the platonic relationship between a pretty lady and a knight without trying to know each other physically, somehow directs the perception of female confrontation not towards the reclaiming of their female space, but to a rivalry for a romantic interest. Lady Attenborough is portrayed primarily as a pretty and intelligent woman, the object of male admiration, episodes or details that would characterize her as a mother are scarce. It is worth mentioning that the lady’s idea to take seemingly unattractive Cecilia as a companion is perceived as an all-times female trick to have an ugly girlfriend by her side for the sole benefit – so that compared to her, the lady could look even more attractive to men. Attenborough’s son’s behavior shows how powerful the mother’s influence is and how weak his personality happens to be. This undeclared, unspoken competition of women for a man finds an artistic implementation in the repetitive daily situation at the dinner table, which oddly resembles a love triangle, which is always finalized with the late-night mother and son tête-à-tête time. It is emphasized that Pauline`s narcissistic love for her appearance is designed to ambiguously demonstrate her raison d’être: to always stay attractive to men. The motif of the heroine`s eternal youth is linked to the motif of vampirism, which finds realization both at the level of Pauline’s behavior and through the description of her way of life by her son. All his life, Robert has been focused exclusively on his mother, building his communication with Lady Attenborough as with a romantic partner and not the woman who gave birth to him. The incestuous nature of the mother-son relationship is metaphorically expressed on a spatial level: only Pauline and Robert live in the house, while Cecilia is given a room in another building. It is emphasized that Lady Attenborough influences her son as a destructive and even castrating force, which in turn refers to the archetype of the Great Mother, who can both bestow and destroy. The features of the lady`s appearance (she is both old and young, lovely and ugly) point to a fairy-tale mythological context, where the archetype of the Terrible Mother is most often objectified as a witch, stepmother, or mother who hates her son. Pauline`s presentation is expressed by the micro-image of Circe, which is a mythological objectification of an insidious and dangerous beauty who seeks to subdue men to her will, turning them into pigs. As Robert stays mentally inseparable from his mother, it causes his infantilism, his unwillingness, and fear of knowing another woman. In fact, it creates a conflict in his psyche. And, similar to myths and fairy tales, only with the death of his mother, Lawrence`s hero is freed from her negative influence and gets the opportunity to express his courage and behold femininity. In the short story, the author`s text is contaminated with the point of view of Cecilia as a direct participant in the events, thus presenting a woman`s view of the situation. From the standpoint of psychoanalysis, the inversion of the gender roles of Cecilia and Robert can be decoded as the subjectivation of Anima and Animus actants in relation to each other, which to some extent explains the lack of mutual erotic and aesthetic contemplation. Robert presents the deformed Cecilia`s Anima because an early orphaned girl could not afford the gender luxury of passive anticipation of a marriage proposal. Cecilia is the castrated Animus of Robert, who is forced to suppress himself due to his incestuous mental connection with his mother and unwillingness to separate from her, which is metaphorically presented through the territorial demarcation of the actants: the invited young woman is housed in a separate building. The fact that Ciss is living in the rooms above the stable, where now a car is kept, is seen as a metaphor for pushing Attenborough’s son’s healthy instincts and emotions to the margins (a car, as well as horses, are traditional markers of male energy and strength, passions and instincts). Lawrence`s short story is an artistic illustration of the destructive image of the mother, the maternal care as total control over an adult son, which causes his infantilism in life.

Mama’s boy? mother-son bond as a resource for masculinity construction

ABSTRACT The vibrant field of research about masculinities has rarely discussed mother-son relationships outside the classical psychoanalytic prism of gender identity development. The paper addresses this void by exploring men’s accounts of their identities as men through the lens of their relationships with their mothers within a societal context that identifies masculinity with separation from the mother and denial of her feminine traits. This qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews with 15 Israeli men who state they have close relationships with their mothers. The interviewees portray their mothers as significant models for key social capabilities. We contend that the transforming ideologies of manhood allow these men to describe this close dyad as a resource for a broader emotional vocabulary, heterosexual attractiveness, and for ascending the Israeli hierarchy of masculinity. Through their descriptions of the dyadic bond, they are in fact expanding the toolkit available to them for signifying their gender. These close dyadic relationships do not detract from their belonging to the category of ‘men’. Indeed, these men use these relationships to derive personal benefits and upgrade their social status vis-à-vis women as well as other men. These findings can contribute to the scholarly debate concerning the changing nature of masculinity.

Reversed Myth and Negative Symbols of Narcissus in Mother-Son Relationship in Hayashi Fumiko’s Narcissus

The famous myth of Narcissus is about a mythical handsome young man who indifferently rejects the love of the nymph Echo leading to Echo’s broken heart and untimely death and his being cursed to excessively adore his own handsome reflection on the pond till his death. The short story entitled Narcissus written by Hayashi Fumiko is intriguing because its title calls to mind the famous myth of Narcissus. However, this short story portrays the myth of Narcissus from a unique perspective. Thus, the aims of this paper are to analyse the reversed myth and negative symbols of Narcissus as reflected in the mother-son relationship in the short story. To support the analysis various psychological understandings of the myth of Narcissus are used as well as various understandings of the symbols of the flowers called Narcissus. The methods of research used are a comprehensive combination of textual-contextual methods as well as library research and qualitative research. The textual method focuses on the intrinsic aspects relevant to the focus of analysis, such as character, conflict, and setting, while the contextual method borrows the psychological concepts of the term Narcissus and the symbolic meaning of the flowers named Narcissus. The result shows that the mother-son relationship clearly portrays the reversed myth in the matter of the gender roles, the type of relationship, and the ending of the relationship. Another result shows that all the symbols related to the flowers of Narcissus turn into negative meanings in the sort of story entitled Narcissus by Hayashi Fumiko. In short, the short story writer turns upside down both the myth and the symbols resulting in an engaging story full of hidden meanings to be interpreted

Exploring the lived experiences of mothers who identify with ‘gender disappointment’

In a western context, little is known about the term ‘gender disappointment’, which describes feelings of despair around not having a child of the desired sex. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of British women who identify with the concept. Six mothers with only sons, who also desired a daughter, participated in a semi-structured interview via an online platform. An interpretative phenomenological analysis identified themes related to pity, societal expectations of unfulfillment, and concerns relating to the future mother-son relationship, feelings of guilt and shame, barriers to seeking help and the benefits of talking. The study concludes that there is a need for greater awareness of gender disappointment and the negative impact it has on maternal wellbeing. In addition, mothers who identify with gender disappointment would benefit from support from health visitors to enable them to access the help they need.

Mothers and Sons: Representing Motherhood in Blood Wedding and Mother Courage and Her Children

This paper examines the representation of the mother figure in two modern tragedies, namely Blood Wedding (1932) by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca and Mother Courage and Her Children (1939) by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. The paper sheds light on the binary representation of maternity in both plays. Hence, it highlights how the mother figures are depicted as traditional, “natural” mothers who are caring and overprotective but simultaneously contradict the traditional mother archetype, rendering themselves “bad mothers.” It shows that the mothers sacrifice their motherhood or maternal love for the sake of the other side of the binary which is traditions, honor, and revenge in the case of the Mother in Blood Wedding whereas business and capital in the case of Anna Fierling in Mother Courage and her Children. Eventually, the other side of the binary, which is not motherhood, wins. To achieve its purpose, the paper examines the mother-son relationship in Blood Wedding as well as the mother-son and the mother-daughter relationship in Mother Courage and Her Children.

Mère – Fils : reflets psychanalytiques dans la pièce de Joël Pommerat Cet Enfant

"Mother – Son: Psychoanalytic Reflections in Joël Pommerat’s Play, This Child. This article proposes an analysis of the sixth scene of Joël Pommerat’s work, This Child, from the perspective of some theorems of psychoanalysis. The French writer introduces the reader/ viewer/ listener to a world of fast-paced plot with the help of autonomous characteristic snapshots that make up his works. In the sixth scene, Pommerat negotiates the unhealthy relationship between a young mother and her underage son where compulsion, possessiveness and latent Oedipal references reign supreme. On the verge of a creeping threat, the mother exerts psychological violence on the young student whom she prevents from leaving for school and pressures her to keep close to home creating a suffocating circle, a space-time that tends to assimilate people and things. Silence is inevitable… Keywords: Pommerat, Oedipus complex, mother-son relationship, possessiveness, obsession, denial, homeopathy. "

The construction of the Trans “mother-son relationship”, through the sociocultural perspective

The construction of the Trans “mother-son relationship”, through the sociocultural perspective

Social relationships between chimpanzee sons and mothers endure but change during adolescence and adulthood

Mothers provide indispensable care for infants in many mammalian species. In some long-lived species, the maternal-offspring bond persists after infancy with mothers continuing to provide resources and social support to their adult progeny. Maternal presence is associated with fitness benefits through adolescence for male chimpanzees despite the fact that mature males dominate females and form their strongest bonds with other males. How mothers support grown sons is unknown, because few studies have examined developmental shifts in mother-son relationships during adolescence and adulthood. We investigated social interactions between 29 adolescent (9–15 years) and young adult male (16–20 years) chimpanzees and their mothers at Ngogo in Kibale National Park, Uganda, over 3 years. All males under 12 years old had their mother as their top grooming and proximity partner, as did one-third of the young adult males. As males grew older, the amount of time they associated with, maintained proximity to, groomed with, and kept track of their mothers while traveling decreased. When males were together in the same party as their mothers, however, young adult males affiliated with their mothers as frequently as did adolescent males, with sons initiating the majority of these interactions. In contrast to adult sons, however, adolescent sons became distressed when separated from mothers and relied on their mothers for agonistic support and reassurance after conflicts. These findings indicate that the chimpanzee maternal-offspring bond continues but changes through adolescence and adulthood, with mothers remaining occasional social companions for most adult sons and frequent companions for some. Mammalian mothers protect and provision their infants, and in some species, mothers provide social support for their adult offspring. The importance of mothers in the lives of adult sons is clear in humans and in one of our closest relatives, bonobos. Here we show mothers are also important social partners for sons throughout adolescence and into young adulthood in chimpanzees. Despite prevailing knowledge that adult males are key alliance partners for male chimpanzees, we demonstrate that male chimpanzees maintain social bonds with their mothers into adulthood. We also suggest that social bonds reflect not only the total time spent together, but what animals do during those times, as many young adults rarely groomed their mothers, but at times when they were in the same subgroup with her, they did so frequently. Future research will assess the physiological, psychological, and reproductive benefits of such mother-son bonds.

Daddy issues: Friends rather than fathers influence adult men's hegemonic masculinity

Hegemonic masculinity often refers to negative and socially aversive traits and behaviours associated with idealised masculine norms. Extant literature suggests that several social determinants might influence men's conformity to negative and socially-averse masculine norms, but studies are limited. The present study examined whether the quality of the father-son relationship in childhood impacts hegemonic masculinity in adulthood. In addition, we also determined whether adverse childhood experiences, mother-son relationship quality, as well as familial and peer support explained any additional variance in hegemonic masculinity after controlling for the quality of a man's relationship with his father. A sample of 188 men (aged 18 to 62 years) completed an online survey that included the K-Short Form-42, the Adverse Childhood Experiences scale, and the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory-29. Results from a hierarchical regression analysis showed that the self-reported quality of the father-son relationship did not predict hegemonic masculinity. Adverse childhood experiences, mother-son relationship quality, and family support also failed to predict hegemonic masculinity. However, a decrease in support from friends was associated with an increase in hegemonic masculinity, even after controlling for all other variables. The importance of peer relationships in developing and maintaining a man's adherence to traditional masculine norms is underscored.

Femininity and masculinity in Chinese culture

n traditional Chinese culture, the concepts of femininity and masculinity are “plural categories” which are based on family and society, hence they are not clearly distinguished nor opposite to each other. In ancient times, people valued the power of women, channelling it by saying that women should devote themselves to benefiting the state. Meanwhile, society oppressed women by limiting them to their marital homes in order to eradicate men’s unconscious fear of the destructive side of feminine power. On the other hand, for Chinese men, sexual pleasure and aggression were unwelcome, while the mother–son relationship was most important within the family, and comradeship and brotherhood between men another important aspect of relationships. Profoundly mutual relationships were not encouraged between men and women in ancient China. Even until now, all men and women and their intimate relationships have been in the service of politics. The interests of the family and state are placed above individual interests. However, the one-child policy, as the product of government decision based on population numbers rather than human factors, and implemented by coercion, has produced a generation of empowered daughters and “little emperors” who increasingly value and appreciate individualism. The new generations must learn how to develop new forms of mutuality between the partners, with evolving implications for masculinity and femininity.