‘Maternal instinct’ is socially constructed ‘myth,’ Arizona State U. professor says
The “maternal instinct” is a socially constructed “myth” rather than an innate biological trait, Arizona State University Professor Lela Rankin said at an on-campus event Thursday.
At the event, titled “Dismantling the Maternal Instinct,” she criticized the “myth” for enforcing “gendered” caregiving roles and contributing to an unequal burden placed on women in family structures.
“[T]his idea of this maternal instinct, it struck me as potentially problematic because it really places the primacy on biological mothers, and then it relegates other people…to essentially secondary babysitters or assistants, right?” Rankin (pictured) said.
The “myth” of the “maternal instinct” perpetuates the idea that “non-birthing” parents “can’t actually be as good as the biological mother,” she said.
She also said it has been weaponized historically, such as during slavery, to portray black women as less attached to their children, justifying inhumane practices like child separation.
“So it gets real dark as we start to uncover some of this history underlying the maternal instinct,” she said.
To “dismantle the maternal instinct,” Rankin cited her own study in which she found that not all mothers feel an immediate bond with their child. About one-third of mothers reported delayed bonding due to factors like postpartum distress, younger age, or first-time motherhood.
Further arguing that caregiving is not inherently tied to gender, she cited her survey showing that 89% of respondents viewed parenting as learned through experience rather than instinct.
Rankin also criticized the “myth” for pressuring women to fulfill unrealistic caregiving standards.
“[A]cross cultures that there’s little nuances on what you should be doing as the good mother…There was all this expectation of not only bringing in money and working outside the home, but also to do so joyfully and naturally and exceptionally,” Rankin said.
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“So nearly almost every version of maternal imagery promotes an unattainable goal for modern women, frequently living them with feelings of inadequacy, guilt, when they cannot replicate this very unrealistic representation of a mother,” she said.
“Good parenting” is simply “doing it,” Rankin said.
Further, the professor said the concept of gender deviance neutralization—the idea that as women’s earnings increase, their domestic workload should decrease—does not play out in reality.
“So women are doing more than men, but it’s only mothers,” Rankin said.
She contrasted this with child-free couples, who she said exhibit a more equal labor division, suggesting that the imbalance is tied specifically to motherhood.
“It’s this ideology that caring for others is a feminine trait and that there is some sort of innate ability because of the female sex characteristic to bond and care for others, particularly children. And in the 20s, this was written as an all-absorbing occupation to which mothers devote all of their energies,” she said.
“This idea shifted slightly with the movement…with workforce development. However, this idea that they still are the superior parent still, from the research perspective, continues to persist,” Rankin said.
The event description states, “The belief in a maternal instinct assumes parenting as something innate, automatic, and distinctly female. But what is the scientific evidence to support the myth?”
“Lela Rankin will present an overview of her research as a Fulbright scholar to deconstruct the maternal instinct myth and unveil its impact on our understanding of what is ‘good’ parenting in North America,” it states.
According to ASU’s website, “Rankin teaches human behavior and the social environment, clinical practice courses with adolescents, and LGBTQ+ issues.”
The College Fix reached out to Rankin and Toni Peters, the event coordinator, for comments on the goal of the lecture via email in the last week. Neither responded.
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IMAGE: ASU Watts College/Youtube
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