“A mother who watches a child eagerly push a friend aside as she or he climbs a tree is torn between preserving the child from danger, encouraging the child’s physical skills and courage, and shaping a child according to moral restraints, which might, for example, inhibit the child’s joy in competitive climbing.” (Ruddick 216)
This passage comes from Maternal Thinking by Sara Ruddick, in which she discusses the governing interests that drive motherhood. We read this work in my Philosophy class, and I chose this passage in particular because it highlights an interesting moment in which the maternal figure has conflicting interests with her child, and therefore must choose which interest she cares about more. In this way, Ruddick uses this example to emphasize the complexity of motherhood, depicting that there is not always one correct answer or decision.
