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A review by lifelivedwildly
The Shelter of Each Other by Mary Pipher
2.0
Had to read this book for a class.
It works from the basic assumption that families are good, well-intentioned, and safe; the outside world and culture are not. It is us (the family) vs them (not family). Her conclusions (and very, very, very broad generalizations and suggestions) all come from that assumption. It doesn’t address anything outside of an idealized family unit that is experiencing “normal” family issues.
Her idealized of family and familial relationships skew everything else. If a mom/dad/etc picks up this book in the midst of real crisis? Or a family that has an emotionally or physically abusive member?
It works from the basic assumption that families are good, well-intentioned, and safe; the outside world and culture are not. It is us (the family) vs them (not family). Her conclusions (and very, very, very broad generalizations and suggestions) all come from that assumption. It doesn’t address anything outside of an idealized family unit that is experiencing “normal” family issues.
Her idealized of family and familial relationships skew everything else. If a mom/dad/etc picks up this book in the midst of real crisis? Or a family that has an emotionally or physically abusive member?