The Mermaid and the Minotaur by Dorothy Dinnerstein
"The Mermaid and the Minotaur" by Dorothy Dinnerstein is a thought-provoking analysis that examines the psychological and sociocultural underpinnings of gender roles, especially in the context of child-rearing. Dinnerstein proposes that contemporary issues of masculinity and femininity stem from historical female-dominated child-rearing practices, which shape emotional and psychological development. She argues that this gender division is both a symptom and a cause of a broader "human malaise," characterized by a pathological relationship with nature and oneself. Through her feminist lens, Dinnerstein contends that unless there is a fundamental shift in how child care is approached—specifically advocating for shared responsibilities between men and women—the species risks remaining in a state of semi-human existence.
The metaphor of the mermaid and the minotaur symbolizes the dangerous allure of traditional femininity and the destructive tendencies of masculinity, respectively. Dinnerstein critiques the notion that existing gender arrangements are natural, highlighting how technological advancements have rendered traditional roles obsolete. She engages with significant thinkers, weaving their insights into her arguments while addressing the emotional complexities tied to motherhood. While Dinnerstein's views have sparked debate among critics—some questioning her emphasis on biology and the implications of her arguments—her work remains a critical contribution to feminist thought, challenging readers to reconsider the intersection of gender, psychology, and society.
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The Mermaid and the Minotaur by Dorothy Dinnerstein
First published: 1976
Type of work: Social criticism
Form and Content
An emotionally charged work intended to enrage the reader, The Mermaid and the Minotaur: Sexual Arrangements and Human Malaise analyzes the way in which female-dominated child-rearing arrangements lie at the roots of masculinity and femininity. Dorothy Dinnerstein argues that the “human malaise,” the deeply pathological and fundamentally life-threatening attitude that the species has toward itself and nature, arises from the same sexual arrangements that are intended to alleviate the pain of that malaise. The division of labor into male and female spheres, responsibilities, and privileges, in other words, is both the symptom and the cause of the sickness of humanity. More frightening, perhaps, is the idea that men and women accept this division. Explaining why they do so is Dinnerstein’s primary goal. From the outset, then, her book is profoundly feminist: It begins with the assumption that current gender arrangements must be changed and that without such a change the human species will succeed in committing collective suicide.
The book’s title captures these primary assumptions. The mermaid symbolizes a treacherous femininity, the lure of a deadly, underwater darkness. The masculine minotaur represents unnatural lust in all of its mindless, greedy power. Together, the two images evoke the ambiguous position of humanity as a species in the animal kingdom, while signifying Dinnerstein’s more specific focus on the cancer of gender. She claims that “until we grow strong enough to renounce the pernicious prevailing forms of collaboration between the sexes, both man and woman will remain semi-human, monstrous.” Furthermore, as semi-humans, men and women will continue to deny the life-affirming aspects of existence, instead placing their hopes in the cold machinery of a rationalized, commercialized technology that rejects that which is bodily and organic.
Beginning with a speculative history of the gendered evolution of the species, an account that draws attention to the apparently natural causes of primary female child care in early humans, Dinnerstein asks why contemporary women continue to be confined to their prehistoric role. Technological innovations have eliminated whatever original need there was for women to confine themselves to the domestic sphere. Although in the past childbearing and lactation may have taken up the bulk of a woman’s adult life, increases in the life span and the availability of contraception have eliminated this requirement. Additionally, although survival needs probably made a certain degree of aggressiveness a valuable trait in prehistoric men, neither this nor strength is necessary for success in most areas of modern society. The two answers that Dinnerstein provides to the question of the continuation of prehistoric sexual arrangements in contemporary understandings of gender form the structure of the book.
Briefly stated, the reasons that people continue to accept the gendered division of society involve, first, the emotional impact of primary female child care—that is, the way in which people develop a particular psychological structure because of their ties to their mothers—and, second, the species’ ambivalent relationship to technology—the attempt to control an uncontrollable environment. In analyzing both the relationship between mother and infant and that between humanity and environment, Dinnerstein concludes that the survival of the species requires a fundamental change in child-rearing arrangements. If humans are to develop as fully formed men and women, both sexes must participate in child care.
Although Dinnerstein intends to enrage her readers by challenging the sacredness of motherhood, and despite the fact that she claims not to have written an academic book, The Mermaid and the Minotaur is systematically and coherently argued. Dinnerstein engages a number of prominent thinkers, including Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, Erich Fromm, Melanie Klein, and Herbert Marcuse. Additionally, she provides numerous examples, arguments, and commentaries in boxed paragraphs that remain separate from the text. These engage the reader without interrupting the flow of her argument. Skillfully interweaving passion and commitment with reason and erudition, Dinnerstein provides a disturbing and compelling analysis of the ramifications of the duality of masculinity and femininity.
Context
Along with Nancy Chodorow’s The Reproduction of Mothering (1978) and Juliet Mitchell’s Psychoanalysis and Feminism (1974), The Mermaid and the Minotaur helped to shift American feminist thought toward an analysis of the psychological roots of gender. Previously, insulted by Freud’s negative attitude toward women and his discussion of penis envy, a number of feminists had rejected psychoanalysis altogether. Thanks to Dinnerstein and others, feminists have begun to look more closely at the importance of sexuality and desire. Furthermore, whereas earlier feminists had focused on the material and institutional dimensions of women’s subordination, psychoanalytically informed works such as The Mermaid and the Minotaur challenged women to consider the impact of family arrangements and child-rearing practices on human mental and emotional development.
In conclusion, a key aspect of Dinnerstein’s contribution is the attention she gives to early childhood relationships. Unlike Freud, who stressed the role of the father, her focus on the mother’s role provides deep insights into the psychological effects of child-rearing arrangements long accepted as natural and necessary. To be sure, some critics have suggested that Dinnerstein overstates her case, in effect “blaming the mother.” Other critics have questioned her emphasis on biology, arguing that the meaning of motherhood is culturally variable. These critics question the decisive split between nature and culture which underlies Dinnerstein’s argument. Finally, given the depth of the pathology Dinnerstein describes, some have wondered if having men participate in child rearing is enough of a solution. Perhaps this idea reasserts the idea of men as heroes, urging them to come to the rescue of humanity. Despite these criticisms, however, The Mermaid and the Minotaur provides a provocative discussion of the destructive potential of gender and a compelling argument for the transformation of existing sexualarrangements.
Bibliography
Benjamin, Jessica. The Bonds of Love. New York: Pantheon Books, 1988. A further investigation of the role of primary female child care in gender identity and personality development.
Brennan, Teresa, ed. Between Feminism and Psychoanalysis. London: Routledge, 1989. A collection of essays that may help the reader situate Dinnerstein within a larger context of feminism and psychoanalysis.
Chodorow, Nancy. The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978. Provides an analysis of gender similar to Dinnerstein’s, although it is less bleak.
Flax, Jane. Thinking Fragments: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and Postmodernism in the Contemporary West. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. A consideration of major developments in recent critical thought with a discussion of Dinnerstein’s contribution to feminism and psychoanalysis.
Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982. Draws on Dinnerstein’s work to consider the effects of women’s mothering, but it has a more positive appraisal of motherhood and the virtues associated with it.