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21/10/2013

Stay-At-Home Mothers Face Prejudice

A leading child development expert has said mothers who stay at home are facing ever-increasing prejudice that assumes they are "stupid, lazy and unattractive".

In a report by The Telegraph, Dr Aric Sigman, a fellow of the Society of Biology and associate fellow of the British Psychological Society, said "motherism" should be addressed in the same way as other prejudices, such as racism.

Speaking at a conference, which was organised by the Mothers At Home Matter group, Dr Sigman said that evidence suggests that mothers provide "unrivalled benefits" to young children, that other people – the children's fathers included – cannot provide.

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He said: "You should take on 'motherism' – the prejudice against stay-at-home mothers – a prejudice that expresses itself in derogatory clichés like: 'You gain a baby and lose a brain' and comments that refer to 'schoolgate mother mentality', or to being 'willingly self-lobotomised'.

"The implication is that by being a full-time mother you are 'subjugated and servile' and even sexually unattractive once you are a mother – a quality only associated with women who return to work with their high heels and clipboards.

"I have heard how full-time mothers are described. The tone seems to be that they are not as interesting, that they have taken a step down both socially and intellectually but also in terms of esteem.

"If you applied any other kind of minority group tag to that there would be an outcry."

The Mothers At Home Matter group recently challenged Chancellor George Osborne, over his comment that being a full-time mother was a "lifestyle choice".

(JP/CD)

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"A leading child development expert has said mothers who stay at home are facing ever-increasing prejudice that assumes they are "stupid, lazy and unattractive"."