Again: between loyalty and autonomy

The current and complex emotional tangle in the mother-daughter relationship

Abstract

In spite of everything, in spite of decades of feminist battles, still the weight of familial and, certainly, maternal conditioning in the history of relationship and education with daughters remains true and strong.  What matters is the internalization of the mother's system of relationships and ideo-affective representation, which leads the daughter to be confronted with the struggle to emancipate herself, as if the alternative were between growing up or betraying her mother. It increases guilt even in feeling the desire to differentiate oneself, all the more so if the mother is affectionate. It affects so-called ''family loyalty'' and toward the maternal chain. This is why the advent of a crisis can prove valuable, if accompanied by second-level forms of pedagogical consultancy.