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TechnoratiNow, he turns his considerable talents and scholarship to the issue of the complementarity of the sexes in the task of parenting the young.
At the onset, Wilcox acknowledges that not every mother or every father will possess all of the sex-specific gifts he will describe. "Nevertheless, most fathers and mothers possess sex-specific talents related to parenting," he insists, "and society should organize parenting and work roles to take advantage of the way in which these talents tend to be distributed in sex-specific ways."
Beyond this, he argues that the task of raising children requires many different parenting talents, and one sex "tends to excel in each of them." For this reason, "society should build on these comparative sex-specific advantages by letting each sex take the lead in the domains where it excels." Of course, this means confronting the androgynous impulse head-on.
Wilcox first takes a look at the distinctive talents of mothers. Essentially, he explains that mothers bring three particular talents to the task of parenting: "their capacity to breastfeed, their ability to understand infants and children, and their ability to offer nurture and comfort to their children."
Ideological feminism doesn't know what to do with breastfeeding. On the one hand, the discipline of breastfeeding requires a considerable investment of time on the part of the mother, making her rapid re-entry into the workplace unlikely. On the other hand, breastfeeding is understood to be tied to infant health and is a natural means for feeding and nurturing babies. As Wilcox explains, "The medical literature on the advantages of breastfeeding could not be clearer. Breast milk offers infants a range of sugars, nutrients, and antibodies unavailable in infant formula. It protects infants against at least eleven serious maladies, from ear infections to sudden infant death syndrome." At this point, Wilcox acknowledges, "Mothers clearly have a very sex-specific advantage in parenting." This is an advantage recognized, honored, and respected by most husbands.
Nevertheless, Wilcox insists that maternal advantages do not end with breastfeeding. He suggests that mothers excel in interpreting the physical and linguistic cues sent by their children. From the beginning, mothers are more sensitive to the distinctive cries of infants – able to distinguish between a cry of pain and a cry for attention. Beyond this, mothers are better than fathers at interpreting the emotional state of their children. This maternal talent is extended throughout the child's school years and adolescence. As Wilcox recounts, "Adolescents report that their mothers know them better than their fathers do."
Does biology play a part? Wilcox points to research that indicates that mothers "are primed by their hormones to engage in nurturing behavior such as hugging, praising, or cuddling." Specifically, the hormone peptide oxytocin, released in a woman's body during pregnancy and breastfeeding, may make mothers more interested in bonding with children. Whatever the cause, mothers tend to be better at nurturing and seem to find greater enjoyment in the nurturing task. "Children know this," Wilcox observes. Continue »
