Nancy Julia Chodorow (born January 20, 1944) is an American sociologist and professor. She began her career as a professor of Women's studies at Wellesley College in 1973, and from 1974 on taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz, until 1986. She then was a professor in the departments of sociology and clinical psychology at the University of California, Berkeley until she resigned in 1986, after which she taught psychiatry at Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance. Chodorow is often described as a leader in feminist thought, especially in the realms of psychoanalysis and psychology. Chodorow has written a number of influential books in contemporary feminist writing, including The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender (1978); Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory (1989); Femininities, Masculinities, Sexualities: Freud and Beyond (1994); and The Power of Feelings: Personal Meaning in Psychoanalysis, Gender, and Culture (1999). In 1996, The Reproduction of Mothering was chosen by Contemporary Sociology as one of the ten most influential books of the past 25 years. Biography Personal life Dr. Chodorow was born on January 20, 1944, in New York, New York to a Jewish family. Her parents were Marvin Chodorow and Leah (Turitz) Chodorow. Her father was a professor of applied physics. Her mother was a community activist who helped establish the Stanford Village Nursery School and served as its first parents board president. In 1977, Chodorow married Michael Reich, a professor of economics. In 1996, they separated. Education Chodorow graduated from Radcliffe College in 1966, where she studied under Beatrice and W.M. Whiting. Chodorow's work focused on personality and cultural anthropology now classified as pre-feminist work. In 1975, she received her Ph.D. in sociology from Brandeis University. Under the instruction of Philip Slater, Chodorow was influenced to focus her studies on the unconscious phenomena of psychoanalysis. She later referred to Slater's book, Glory of Hera (1968), as one of the most influential books in regards to a man's immense fear of women and its manifestation in culture. Following her Ph.D., Chodorow received clinical training at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute from 1985 to 1993. Postdoctoral clinical training University of California, Berkeley, Dept. of Psychology, 1984–86, Postdoctoral Intern San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute 1986-1993 Influences Sigmund Freud Chodorow's most profound influence stems from Freudian psychoanalysis. She critiques Freudian analysis with a feminist perspective to understand the mother-child relationship. Chodorow uses the Freudian model of female development to reveal