'Truths' that become norms that become discourse that then become 'mommy wars'

Just going through my university notes from my child development course which was one of the first courses I completed in my road to becoming an Early Childhood Educator and had to share. 


Here is the excerpt retyped direct from my note book: 


*Foucault suggests that when we view knowledge as a truth it becomes a dominant discourse  in which we are unable to see another possibility. 


'truths' then become powerful by then creating norms that regulate behaviour, exclude and separate people and ideas. 


Practices that bring to life the 'truths' of child development, Janet Gore (1998) 
*Normalisation: comparing children to standard or developmental norm 
*Exclusion: using 'truths' as a way of seeing behaviours as desirable or undesirable 
*Classification: using labels to classify children on the basis of developmental norms 
*Regulation: using truths to regulate what we do with children (e.g. developmentally appropriate practice, best practice) 




Reading this tonight made me realize how this translates very well into parenting and  how we create norms within different parenting circles. These norms such as the most appropriate way a child should sleep - in their own bedroom v.s. co-sleeping  become polar positions on 'best practice'.  All these created 'truths' seem to me to be major factors in mommy wars. 


Just wanted to share. I love Foucault!