Education for Motherhood: Advice for Mothers in Twentieth-Century Canada

Sara Stratton teaches history at York University.

Motherhood is a hot topic in women’s history. In recent American
literature, topics have ranged from the confluence of motherhood and
industrial “home work” to the role that Progressive-era mothers
played in the implementation of child-centred reform. In Canada, recent
contributions include the study of mothers and child-welfare policy, and
this book, an examination of advice literature for mothers.

The nature of the advice offered to mothers has changed over the
century. Initially, it assumed that women lacked the knowledge to raise
a child properly, and called for a rigid, structured approach. For
example, mothers were told to begin toilet training their children
almost immediately after birth. By the late 1940s Canadian advice was
softening, due in part to the influence of Dr. Benjamin Spock.

There are a few weaknesses in the study: although Arnup uses federal
material, which was widely distributed, this book is distinctly Ontario-
and Toronto-centred, and tells us very little about the experiences of
eastern and western Canadian mothers. The United States Children’s
Bureau and Dr. Spock did have tremendous influence in their time, but
they were not the voice of the Canadian or Ontario governments, and the
amount of attention Arnup pays them is jarring.

The book’s strength is the author’s refusal to see “education for
motherhood” as anything more than a form of social control. She
analyzes how the literature was received by mothers through a cautious
reading of letters to child-welfare agencies and a small number of oral
interviews, concluding that mothers used and appreciated this advice.
Ultimately, however, this “friendly, welcome voice in an otherwise
lonely world” cost women some of their power in the home.