To join the company of women, to be adults, we go through a period of proudly boasting of having survived our own mother's indifference, anger, overpowering love, the burden of her pain, her tendency to drink or teetotal, her warmth or coldness, praise or criticism, sexual confusions or embarrassing clarity. It isn't enough that she sweat, labored, bore her daughters howling or under total anesthesia or both. No. She must be responsible for our psychic weaknesses the rest of her life. It is alright to feel kinship with your father, to forgive. We all know that. But your mother is held to a standard so exacting that it has no principles. She simply must be to blame. Louise Erdrich
About This Quote

Those who have grown up surrounded by strong, powerful women often feel the need to emulate their mothers. Not only does this make them feel good about themselves, it also gives them a brief glimpse of what motherhood might be like. But the reality is that they will never be as good as their mothers and there is no chance that they will ever live up to her ideals. This is because the world expects women to be perfect and mothers to be flawed, and there is no way around this expectation. Despite all of our best efforts, we will never live up to these impossible standards.

Source: The Painted Drum

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