purple_fins said: [QUOTE]"I think that perhaps the issue of daughters being so represented with narcissistic mothers is that the child NEEDS the support of the same gender parent the most... and so when the mother is narcissistic it can really do a HUGE number on the development of the little female mind... where will she get her ability to nurture others from? the ability that society so insists that she possess........ where will she get empathy and compassion from-- that is also a societal requirement of females more than males....... such a situation may leave a female adult at a major deficit from what society expects from her. (I would be included in this group.)[/QUOTE]

Well, admittedly I'm new to this area, but what I read in attachment theory hasn't yet differentiated between gender needs in early childhood. The message I thought I was getting was that all of us need certain special handling as infants and toddlers in order to be socialized later on. And that special handling includes attunement and intersubjectivity and empathy and all that. Without that, whether boy or girl, people grow up with very stunted social skills. You're quite right in saying that in their own reproductive cycles girls have to call on their early childhood experiences to a greater extent than boys. Otherwise they risk perpetuating an eternal chain down through the generations. But as my brothers and I would seem to prove, damage done in early childhood can very much impair, if not totally destroy, the abilities of a man to carry out his reproductive role of support and bringing income into the family.

Thanks, fins, yes, it's helped a lot. Best to you too. Take care!