Praising Motherhood

The Washington Times ran this article on Mother's Day which provides new evidence of the virtues of motherhood (Hat tip: Polipundit):

Sixty years ago, Sigmund Freud called the mother-child bond "unique" and "without parallel."

Today, a study of more than 2,000 mothers confirms Freud's wisdom: 93 percent say the care of their children is "so unique" that no one else can replace it. The same percentage believe the love they feel for their children is "unlike" any other love.

The study was released last week by the New York-based Institute for American Values (IAV), a nonpartisan marriage and family advocacy think tank. IAV questioned mothers nationwide who are 18 and older with at least one child younger than 18.

Predictably, there was the usual response from feminist academics who try to play down the importance of mothers in the role of child-rearing as well as disputing the importance of two parent families:

Much of academia and social science doubts that mothers are all that special. A meta-analysis of 171 parenting studies found "few significant differences" between mothers and fathers, City College of New York psychology professor Peter Fraenkel wrote in a 2000 article.

"An open-minded review of the existing literature suggests that parenting roles are interchangeable, that neither mothers nor fathers are unique or essential," he wrote.

What the research suggests is that children do best when they have "a consistent, caring relationship with at least one responsible adult," especially one who can show affection, respond to a child's needs, offer discipline and serve as a positive role model, he wrote.

Here in a nutshell are the lies of feminism laid out in plain view: Motherhood is not that important. There's no difference between mothers and fathers. The fact that one parent is missing has no bearing on the child.

Feminists would like women to believe that they aren't missing out by sacrificing their home life to pursue a career. They would like women to believe that raising children isn't a fufilling life choice. Studies like the one cited in this article just go to prove what many already knew: there is no greater calling in life than being a parent and particularly a mother.