Originally Posted by Guest

The Politicization of Motherhood
James Taranto WSJ 10/28-29

"Erica Komisar is an Upper West Side Manhattan New Yorker Jewish psychoanalyst and political liberal who wrote a book entitled “Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood In the First Three Years Matters”

The premise of her book is backed by research in psychology, neuroscience, and epigenetics and explains that mothers are biologically necessary, and not only for the obvious reasons of pregnancy and birth. She states that babies are much more neurologically fragile than we’ve understood.

She cites studies by neuroscientist Nim Tottenham of Columbia University that babies are born without a central nervous system and that mothers are the central nervous system to babies, especially the first 9 months after birth.

Ms Komisar explains that every time a mother comforts her baby in distress she is actually regulating that baby’s emotions from outside in. After 3 years the baby internalizes their emotions but not before then.


The regulatory mechanism is “oxytocin” , a neurotransmitter, popularly know as the love hormone.

Mothers produce it when they give birth, breastfeed and nurture their babies. The more oxytocin a mother produces the more she produces in her baby by communicating via eye contact, touch and gentle talk.

The baby’s brain in turn develops oxytocin receptors, which allows for self-regulation at a later age

People want to feel that men and women are fungible but they are not when it comes to parental roles Fathers produce a different nurturing hormone “vasopressin “ a protective aggressive hormone.

Hence mothers are essential for rearing their young for the first three years of their life. She goes on to explain suspected problems associated when mothers do not assume this role.

Ms Komisar's book has not been welcome in the liberal circles. Some who have had a very emotional and angry response.

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