This book provides analyses of many aspects of mother-daughter relationships, starting from the premise that daughters and mothers both take an active part in shaping their relationship. It discusses contextual issues, examining women's roles in therapy, management and education.

Sisterhood used to be the most powerful metaphor for relationships between women. Now there is a new interest in the mother-daughter relationship which in all its complexity, often acts as a better symbol of the diversity and difference inherent in women's relations in general. However, while recent theorizing has focused on the role of the mothers and mothering, far less attention has been given to the active role taken by women as daughters. With this focus on daughtering, the book offers conceptualizations to extend the normal boundaries of psychoanalytic theory. "Daughtering and Mothering" develops its discussion from viewpoints in psychoanalysis and psychology, as well as cultural anthropology. The contributors take up three main themes, firstly on the sexual dimension of female subjectivity, challenging the notion that the father is necessarily the first sexual object. They also discuss contextual issues, examining women's roles in therapy, management and education, and in external relations in general. Finally they argue that the concept of "good-enough-mothering" is an idealized version of the mother-daughter relationship.