Discover “Mothers – The power of the peaceful army”, a collection of chronicles on the daily life of the Daronnes

There are books like that, which we think we wish we had read sooner. This is the case of Mothers – The power of the peaceful army, by Josepha Raphard, which we would have liked to discover, in Daronne, when we became mothers. Since this book has just been released and we don’t master time travel, we figured that if we don’t, we might recommend it to our readers who have recently become daronnes.

This book is structured in the form of small chronicles about the daily life of the author’s mother. And her daily life is ours too. With humor and sweetness she tells the injunctions and clicks that allowed her to get rid of them, her great moments of happiness with her daughter Paloma, the fraternities, gender stereotypes, breastfeeding, the changing body, sexuality. The list is not exhaustive, there really isn’t a common thread, just the inspiration of an author used to brilliantly sharing her everyday life with her community on her Instagram account.

On the occasion of the release of Mother, the power of the peaceful armyJosépha Raphard told us about the journey that led her to share these intimate and universal texts.

Before the book, the desire to share

Josépha Raphard became the mother of a little girl three years ago. This entry into parenthood was accompanied by the desire to share this new experience, which at the time she could not really satisfy with her circle of hers:

I had my daughter at 25. I didn’t have many friends with kids, but I needed to meet women who were going through the same situation as me.

Josepha Raphard

If she doesn’t experience her motherhood in solitude, she realizes that this world is a bit mysterious for those who don’t gravitate to it:

I didn’t feel alone, but I felt like it wasn’t really talked about [de parentalité]. I felt like there was a world opening up before me and that world had always been around us, but I had never noticed it. I didn’t know anything about it, because there is no training to become a mother. At the same time, I felt quite disconnected from the outside world. Other than motherhood and my son, I thought everything was pretty bland, and paradoxically, I didn’t want to just be a mother. Sharing my experience on Instagram has been a form of outlet and therapy.

Josepha Raphard

A book thought of as a hug, listening to women

When it was created, his Instagram account was not destined to become a book:

In the beginning, I posted my lyrics to share what I was going through and to feel less alone. The more reactions there were, the more I felt my lyrics could do good for women.

Josepha Raphard

Faced with the success of these slices of life, the Hachette publishing house has offered the creator of the account to collect some of her texts for publication. She then created a book specially adapted to mothers, who often run after time to take care of others:

Mothers – the power of the peaceful army it is easy to read. Since there are themes, you don’t need to grab them in one go. I really wanted to offer a medium that all women could read, even if they only have a few spare minutes, in the restrooms or on the subway. I also wanted them to be able to say to themselves by reading this book: I’m not alone. I put this book together a bit like a collective hug. In short, it’s a kind of hug that you can always carry with you in your pocket.

Josepha Raphard

In the course of its columns, it addresses the central themes of motherhood, of which we know nothing before becoming parents:

I’ve never seen my Instagram account as a diary, there was always a theme. (…) [J’y aborde] all these subjects of which we say to ourselves: “I will see when I am a mother” and of which we become aware [une fois parent] that they don’t come naturally at all, that it’s not obvious. We don’t have a gene for motherhood, a gene to love to play with our child or to feed him. [L’entrée dans la parentalité] it’s so complicated, it’s so big, full of love, anger, ambivalence that I told myself I would write about it and that there would be women who would recognize each other

Josepha Raphard

Above all, mothers need to be heard

Without necessarily making her collection a militant work, Josépha Raphard comes from a feminist family and has already worked on body image and femininity, in particular through her documentary “Meufs”, produced in 2018. , this relationship with the body and with femininity it recurs in certain chronicles, among many other themes.

By sharing reflections that concern us all, the author puts her pen at the service of mothers and allows them to be heard:

New mothers need to be listened to, and everything stems from this. They need to be heard when they say they are tired but still want to take care of their children all the time. Let’s listen to them when they say they are in pain, without being told that it is normal to have pain. Let them be heard when they need help breastfeeding or when they don’t want to breastfeed. And the fact that we listen to them also means that we don’t question them. For example, if a mother says she doesn’t want to breastfeed, she should stop there and not ask why.

Josepha Raphard

To encourage this speaking and listening, Josépha also created the Loma Club. Its small group discussion groups allow mothers to discuss their daily lives and the challenges they encounter. Like her Instagram account, this discussion group was initially intended for private use, although in the face of demand, the number of sessions has continued to grow.

With Mothers – The power of the peaceful armythe author has taken up the challenge of uniting mothers and offering them a space for sharing and understanding.

An embrace, listening and a powerful but peaceful army to support us, was certainly an ambitious promise, but perfectly respected by Josépha Raphard in his new job.