In the adaptation of Foucault's surveillance to family life, what role does mothers' self-surveillance play in forming parenting norms?

• A. It creates external state control
• B. It eliminates social norms in parenting
• C. It enforces conformity to social norms through mothers' informal monitoring
• D. It reduces guilt when mothers fail to meet their own expectations.

Answer: (C)

The key idea is that discipline in private life can come from inside, as people regulate themselves because they feel they are being watched and judged by others. In the family context, mothers adopt the standards of what counts as “good parenting” and continually assess their own and others’ practices. This self-surveillance creates a powerful, informal system of social control: mothers monitor, compare, and adjust their behavior to fit norms, and those norms are reinforced through everyday interaction and the fear of judgment. Because the gaze is internalized, there isn’t a visible state enforcement at work; the discipline is carried out through everyday routines and conversations with other parents, family, and friends.

This is why the correct view is that self-surveillance enforces conformity to social norms through mothers’ informal monitoring. It’s not about external state control, it doesn’t erase social norms, and it often heightens guilt when someone feels they don’t meet those internal standards.