Nancy Julia Chodorow (January 20, 1944 – October 14, 2025) was an American sociologist and academic. She began teaching at Wellesley College in 1973, then moved to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she taught from 1974 until 1986. including The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender (1978); Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory (1989); Femininities, Masculinities, Sexualities: Freud and Beyond (1994); and The Power of Feelings: Personal Meaning in Psychoanalysis, Gender, and Culture (1999).

Background

Early life

Chodorow was born to a Jewish family in New York City, on January 20, 1944. Her parents were Marvin Chodorow, a professor of applied physics, and Leah Chodorow (née Turitz), a community activist who helped establish the Stanford Village Nursery School. In 1977, Chodorow married economist Michael Reich, with whom she had two children. They separated in 1996.

Education

Chodorow graduated from Radcliffe College in 1966, where she studied under Beatrice Whiting and W.M. Whiting. Chodorow's undergraduate work focused on personality and cultural anthropology. Philip Slater influenced her studies and directed her focus to the unconscious phenomena of psychoanalysis.

Death

Chodorow died on October 14, 2025, at the age of 81.

Influences

Sigmund Freud

Freudian psychoanalysis is a major influence on Chodorow's work. She critiques Freudian analysis from a feminist perspective to understand the mother-child relationship. Chodorow suggests that females resolve their inner conflict by converting envy of male privilege into heterosexual desire.

Chodorow also uses Sigmund Freud's theory to argue that differences between men and women are largely due to capitalism and the absent father. She acknowledges economic changes occurring around 2003 and their psychological impact on rearing both sexes with regard to shared parenting. She argues that the development of shared parenting has challenged the traditional mothering role, leaving mothers and children with less time together. She argues that "mothering" is socially constructed and part of female personality because women are mothered by women. In her book, Chodorow argues that gender differences arise from formations of the Oedipal complex. While both male and female children experience closeness with their mothers, females seek gratification from this connection in a way that males do not. This separation can lead to ambivalence toward the father. In this work, Chodorow writes, "The mother is the early caregiver and primary source of identification for all children ... A daughter continues to identify with the mother"

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Chodorow argues that masculinity is learned consciously in the absence of the father, while femininity is embedded in the ongoing relationship with the mother. Women, having not suppressed this need, tolerate emotional unresponsiveness in exchange for some love and care. Men, unable to silence this desire through repression, protect themselves from women while maintaining heterosexual relationships. She combines theoretical approaches, focusing on psychoanalysis and feminist theory, while acknowledging their shortcomings regarding gender psychology. She argues that gender identity develops through a combination of personal and cultural meanings.

The Psychoanalytic Ear and the Sociological Eye: Toward an American Independent Tradition (2019)

In The Psychoanalytic Ear and the Sociological Eye, Chodorow explores the relationship between social relationships and individuality, arguing that sociology and psychoanalysis have suffered from not exploring their interconnectedness. She focuses on Erik Erikson and Hans Loewald, reflecting on her own cultural and psychoanalytic journeys.

Books

  • Chodorow, Nancy (2020), Nancy Chodorow and The Reproduction of Mothering Forty Years On. Editor: Petra Bueskens. Palgrave Macmillan .
  • The Psychoanalytic Ear and the Sociological Eye: Toward an American Independent Tradition.
  • Chodorow, Nancy (2019), "The Psychoanalytic Ear and the Sociological Eye: Toward an American Independent Tradition," New York: Routledge, .
  • Chodorow, Nancy (2012), "Individualizing Gender and Sexuality: Theory and Practice," New York: Routledge, .
  • Chodorow, Nancy (1999), "The Power of Feelings: Personal Meaning in Psychoanalysis, Gender, and Culture," New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, .
  • Chodorow, Nancy (1994), "Femininities, Masculinities, Sexualities: Freud and Beyond," KY: University Press of Kentucky, .
  • Chodorow, Nancy (1991), "Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory," New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, .
  • Chodorow, Nancy, (1978), "The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender" CA: University of California Press, .

References

  • https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/social-studies/famous-sociologists/nancy-chodorow/