parentism

noun

1. (uncountable)Discrimination against parents.

   “I've come to label an attitude that lies in most of us and dominates in some as 'parentism' - that is presuming deficiences in people because they are parents.”

   “Why indulge the reader's ageism, sexism, or (the neologicstic) "parentism"?”

   “Similar to other forms of categorizations and discrimination we develop to deal with the complexity of our social life, ´parentism´ emerges as a way of simplifying our interactions with people that are different from ´us ´, stereotyping them into others´.”

   “As he explains it, “there is a virtual epidemic of sexism, heterosexism, racism, ethnocentrism, classism, parentism, professionalism, and so forth in our culture and communities” (p. 181).”

2. (uncountable)Pathological or unhealthy parenting.

   “Five irrational cognitive, emotive, and physical behaviors are described, and it is suggested that Rational Behavior Therapy, utilizing such techniques as rational self-analysis and rational emotive imagery, can help parents rid themselves of "parentism."”

   “A popular form of parentism is motherism. Motherism occurs when being a mother permeates and guides my entire life so that I identify totally with being a mother and fail to realize myself in other ways.”

   “Many of our families suffer from parentism. Either our children are too attached to us as they leave (maybe!) the home, or we are guilty of overprotection.”

3. (uncountable)Parental determinism; the belief that parenting is responsible for the character and behavior of the child.

   “Why do so few Americans recognize the effects of “parentism,” if you will? Why is there still no popular reform movement directed against the problem of wildly unequal starts?”

   “Working for many years with preservice teachers, we have been faced with these forms of parentism on a regular basis.”

   “In the parentism produced by the Society of the Child, one never blames the child.”

   “Logically, parentism sees the nuclear family as the principal site of child-rearing, the two-parent household as the preferred child caregiving arrangement, and multiple attachments as a risk for child development.”

4. (uncountable)The promotion of having children as a social ideal.

   “Many of these baby boomers are fed up with what they consider to be "a tyranny of parentism, " according to Leslie Lafayette, founder of the 2,500-member Childfree Network, one of several groups formed since the 1960s to support the choice to be childless.”

   “This celebration of freedom and independence was hatched, as May sees it, in revolt against the baby boom and the "tyranny of parentism' as it has been described.”

5. (uncountable)The granting of absolute authority to parents.

   “Hence in this case, it can be demonstrated conclusively that Freud was blinded by parentism, that he consistently misinterpreted the defensive communications of the parents as the inevitable psycho-sexual development of the child.”

   “in their criticism of the tyranny of parentism and their plea for moderate liberty in the choice of a wife or of a husband .”

   “The value of parentism includes general vertical and horizontal relationships where the junior is to respect and obey the senior always.”

   “The only ideology is parentism, of when and how much and how loud.”

6. (uncountable)Paternal or maternal feeling and behavior.

   “I debated the matter—Reason was driven from her post and parentism prevail'd.”

   “In regard to the Teeth, page 30, Dr. Redfield remarks to me, that hte upper incisors depict in man, not the social faculties of friendship and ambition, but those of familism or parentism, whose very strong development is first observed in early childhood, in the love of pets and dolls — playing at father and mother, especially in little girls.”

   “The problem–one that has been insoluble when efforts have been made to deconstruct other custody criteria–is giving content to the friendly parentism while minimizing the risk that its vague and indeterminate qualities will be misused to cover decisions based unduly on decisionmakers' personal values.”

   “Brown and I stumbled, again and again, onto things we had in common: activism, Catholicism, parentism.”

   “but he was careful to suppress it, and in so doing he discovered within himself hitherto unknown reservoirs of "parentism".”

7. (countable, uncountable)The assumption of a parental role in the context of a relationship other than the parent-child relationship.

   “Joady would joke in an attempt to escape Susan's image of parentism, although she knew all of their differing tactics were intended as loving nudges to keep Gerda from "declining."”

   “Childbirth educators can also suffer from parentism, deciding what is best for their clients.”

   “Therefore, democracy is brotherhoodism. After the end of brotherhoodism, parentism will emerge.”

   “Elements of ‘parentism’ are necessary and powerful elements of clinical practice.”

8. (countable)A cliché used by parents with their children.

   “I've even got subtitles for parentisms like "you're going to poke somebody's eye out with that".”

   “By far the most bewildering parentism was heard when I tried something dangerous, such as walking along a wall. 'Get down off that wall,' my mum would say, 'or there's going to be a crying match.'”

   “"Because I said so" has got to be the absolute worst parentism on the planet, and a sorry, lame excuse for an answer as well.”

   “I couldn't believe that I actually used a parentism on my sweet baby boy.”

   “Some parentisms are funny, like, "If you poke your eye out, don't come crying to me!" And did you ever think about the fact that you can't poke your eye out.? Really. You can only poke it in.”