Also a Mother

A professor at Chicago Theological Seminary and as a mother, Miller-McLemore has taken on the theological complexities of a major struggle in womanhood, that of vocation versus maternity. The first half of her study traces the silences about, and the male-dominated interpretations of, maternal nurturing as they are employed by many feminists active today in theology, economics and psychology. The second half shares from a more personal level Miller-McLemore's own struggles with the tensions between ``creation and procreation'' and offers ideas and changes that families, congregations, communities and even governments can work toward; for as she points out, ``A theology that does not make room for the demands, responsibilities and joys of relating to children as a fundamental part of life is a theology on the verge of its own demise.'' While this book is theologically an important first, its readers may feel frustrated that it points to the ideal of the village in rearing children rather than to the more realistic problems of a mobile society. (June)