Parenthood by Proxy

June 1, 2000
Sociologist and controversial radio talk show host "Dr. Laura" sends a clear message: parenting should be limited to traditional families of two parents, one of whom stays home with the children. Divorced or single people, homosexuals, and couples who both work should not have children; those who do are self-centered and contribute to the moral decline of society. Daycare users and providers, psychologists, abortion rights supporters, fertility specialists, and the American Library Association are just a few other targets of Dr. Laura's anger (and her epilog informs readers that her book is indeed written out of anger toward those who disagree with her). While many public libraries will want to buy this book to provide a different viewpoint and because Dr. Laura is well known, this reviewer does not think that Parenthood by Proxy has any place in any caring and considerate dialog on child rearing. Such a book promotes a climate of intolerance and hate. To belittle and negate the efforts of many caring parents from a wide variety of lifestyles who are raising moral, happy, and achieving children does not contribute to our understanding of parenthood. Not recommended.--Kay Brodie, Chesapeake Coll., Wye Mills, MD

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2000
Dr. Laura is back, this time offering her views on child rearing. One of her chief tenets is the absolute insistence on the necessity of one parent, preferably the mother, remaining home with a child or children. Knowing that some might find her culpable on this score, the radio psychologist/author/soon-to-be talk-show host begins the book by putting her own career/child-care decisions in the best possible light. The rest of the text reads like a compilation of someone's Lexus Nexus search on parenting. Seemingly every possible report, magazine article, or anecdote in favor of Dr. Laura's position is quoted in a parade of repetitive source material. This mind-numbing display is interspersed with letters and re-creations of radio phone-ins from parents who do stupid stuff. Along with the very legitimate questions she raises about parental responsibility and the decline of family life, Dr. Laura is also here to tell readers about the existence of a concentrated campaign to undermine the American family. Among the campaigners: homosexuals who want access to child raising, feminist activists, the day-care industry, baby boomers, supporters of political correctness, and all "liberated men." There's also the requisite knock at the American Library Association. One question left hanging: How could baby boomers, raised in those halcyon days of Mom at home and dinner on the table, have turned out to be such rotten parents themselves? ((Reviewed April 15, 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)