Mother, Madonna, Whore: The Idealization and Denigration of Motherhood

To Freud, female sexuality remained something of a mystery: a riddle and a dark continent. He urged his female colleagues to enlighten him. Many have since done so - and this book is a most vivid and illuminating contribution to the field.

Welldon explores why the quality of their bodies is fundamental to women's psychology; how this may lead to self-mutilation; and how such perverse behavior may also be aimed at objects which women see as their own creations, specifically, their babies…