The Sister Knot: Why We Fight, Why We're Jealous, and Why We'll Love Each Other No Matter What

Description

“The best book on sisters, very important and beautifully written.”―Carol Gilligan, author of In a Different Voice This “substantial contribution to the literature on sibling relationships” (Library Journal) explores the intricacy, friction, and love in bonds between sisters. Relationships between women are often freighted with a rocky mix of emotions―devotion and disregard, affection and loathing, admiration and envy―leading to anguish and confusion on the playground, in the home, and in the boardroom. Negotiating her layered feelings toward a sister shapes a woman’s psychology as forcefully as do her relationships with her parents. Drawing on compelling interviews and new research, Terri Apter considers the many aspects of the sister relationship from birth through adulthood. The need to fight to differentiate oneself from a sister, as well the protectiveness one feels for that same person, is explained by reference to extensive psychological and biological evidence Content: Why sisters? -- The power of complicated feelings -- Younger sisters and other variations: why sibling trauma is universal -- The sister knot -- Shared minds: empathy between sisters -- "Just like" and "completely different": how sisters find and resist family roles -- Protection and resentment -- Sisters and friends: the interweaving of female bonds -- Group dynamics among sisters -- The power of sister stories -- Success and insecurity: when one sister outshines the other -- Sistering: a lifelong tie.