Comparing Mothering Styles and Types

Different Types of Mothers: A Classification Essay

The idea of motherhood is one of the most sentimentalized and celebrated roles in many cultures. But the definition of motherhood is often contested. Some classify motherhood as the individual who gives birth to a new human being. But there are also adoptive mothers, who bear the primary responsibility for caring for the child. Some figures may like a mother to a child, whether it be grandparents, teachers, or even a father assuming a single parent role. Mothers can parent singly, with a father or another mother, or simply take on a caretaker role. Foster mothers may temporarily take on a mothering role. While there are biological, psychological, and social ways to classify motherhood, precisely how to do so remains hotly debated.

From a purely biological perspective, a mother is an individual who provides 23 chromosomes to the child, according to The Hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, and Platelet Disorders Handbook. A birth mother usually refers to the woman who physically gives birth to the child, but given the rise of new types of surrogacies and invitro fertilization methods, these two may not be one and the same. From the child’s perspective, the child may never meet the birth mother, and may aways know the adoptive mother as the individual who raises the child.

Chromosomes and biology, in other words, are not the only way to classify motherhood. Another way is by parenting style, perhaps most famously that of the so-called Tiger Mother who ruthlessly governs her child’s lifestyle. According to Pamela Li’s “4 Types of Parenting Styles,” most parents (both male and female) have relational styles that fall under the rubric of authoritarian parenting, in which parents are highly dictatorial and controlling of how their children behave, seldom telling children why certain behaviors are optimal other than the fact the parent says so. This is different from authoritative parenting, where parents set clear rules, but explain why, and support the child’s growing independence. Permissive parents offer no rules, and indulge their children, while negligent parents offer neither support no discipline (Li). Neither style is exclusive to either gender (although the disciplinarian style might more associated with fathering than mothering). But all of this illustrates how mothering can take many forms, and mothering styles can vary greatly.

Another way of thinking about mothers is by social role. Although traditionally, mothers have been thought of as the female half of a two-gender couple, this is rapidly changing. Same-sex couples who are married or partnered may have children, and the mothering responsibilities may be assumed between two men or two women. Similarly in multigenerational households, grandparents may assume some childrearing duties, or may take over all of them if the parents are unable to care for the child. In a larger, community context, caregivers in the form of teachers, religious leaders, coaches, and other adults who are entrusted with the care of the child may take on responsibilities and act as a mother to the young person.