The Myth of the Perfect Mother

Interview Questions for

Author Carla Barnhill

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1. You begin The Myth of the Perfect Mother with a story about Andrea Yates, the 37 year old mother who drowned her five children one by one. This story captured your and the nation’s attention. Why do you think it is important to the larger community of Christian women?

2. How did you first see motherhood not matching up with its touted “role of a lifetime” for you as a Christian woman?

3. What is the cult of the family and what is its effect on women?

4. What role does the 1950s family play in perpetuating the myths surrounding motherhood?

5. Although you wrote for mothers, you purposely directed many of your ideas to women in general. Specifically, what do you think The Myth of the Perfect Mother says to women who are childless or single?

6. Why do you think it is a mistake to call motherhood a “divine calling”?

7. I laughed out loud at your “stupid mother” illustration. Would you tell us what it is and why it is important?

8. Is there such a thing as “the good Christian mother”?

9. Is there a way to manage our own and others expectations for mothers?

10. How has society forced women into this unrealistic view of motherhood? How has the church mirrored the larger society?

11. How can the church address depression in women in general? In mothers specifically?

12. You talk a lot about the stresses of working in and outside of the home. How should we look at the working role of mothers?

13. What are ways the church can support stay-at-home mothers? Working mothers?

14. What do you mean by the “practice of motherhood”?

15. You often talk of reforming the church’s view of motherhood. Why is this important?

16. What are ways the church can nurture the spiritual formation of women?