To be a mother, to be a father

the challenges in the contemporary world

Abstract

It is observed that in the cultural context of today, with the breaking of rigid, static values and the openness to the multiple possibilities of subjectivation, of modes of existence, becoming a mother and father must be created, invented with each new experience. This article proposes to discuss these issues from a psychoanalytic perspective – especially Winnicott’s concept of Primary Maternal Concern – as well as the contributions of Gilles Lipovetsky and Joel Birman, theorists who study the contemporary world.