Abstract

One of the major contributions in the social science of the post-Vietnam era has been the initiation of a new discourse on the psychology of gender. If one were pressed to identify the prototypical statement of this fresh field, the most justifiable candidate would be Dorothy Dinnerstein's book, The Mermaid and the Minotaur. Dinnerstein's thesis is that mother-monopolised child-rearing deforms both male and female psychological development, engendering semi-monstrous mythical figures bound together symbiotically rather than complementary human beings in creative, loving relation. The social confounding of child-rearing with mothering implies a process of development that confronts boys with an abrupt disidentification. For girls, on the other hand, it is the continuity of identification that presents problems. This article presents an interview with Dinnerstein on the relationship between gender development and war. 2012 APA, all rights reserved)