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* MadonnaWhoreComplex: According to the school, a good mother isn't supposed to experience sexual desire for anyone, lest it distract her from childrearing. [[spoiler:Frida's attraction to Tucker is a factor that gets her parental rights terminated, whereas his attraction to her doesn't stop him getting his kid back.]]
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* BookEnds: [[spoiler:The book begins and ends with Frida committing an act of desperation.]]
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* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: If mothers quit the school, get expelled, or reveal any information about it, they'll be added to a Negligent Parent Registry. The registry will post their names and photos online, alert communities when they move into neighbourhoods, and reveal their [[AllCrimesAreEqual "crimes"]] when they do anything that requires a social security number. In other words, they'll be treated like pedophiles.
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* PerfectionIsImpossible: The perfect really is the enemy of the good here, as the mothers undergo challenges nobody can hope to pass (eg. protecting the dolls from multiple attackers, keeping a laser focus on them even while having horrific imagery shoved in their faces), the stress of which leaves them far less emotionally stable than when they started out. What's more, they're not allowed to support each other. [[spoiler: It's no surprise that, in the end, ''all'' of the mothers fail the program.]]
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* KnowNothingKnowItAll: The instructors have no kids themselves, and don't know how difficult parenting is, or what children actually need (for example, they expect mothers to cure illnesses, injuries and mental trauma with nothing but their love). They think they know about mothering just because they have dogs and nephews.
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* KnowNothingKnowItAll: KnowNothingKnowItAll:
** The instructors have no kids themselves, and don't know how difficult parenting is, or what children actually need (for example, they expect mothers to cure illnesses, injuries and mental trauma with nothing but their love). They think they know about mothering just because they have dogs andnephews.nephews.
** Susanna puts Harriet on a low-carb diet without consulting a pediatrician first, making her dangerously thin. Eventually, though, she gets professional advice, and Harriet's weight returns to normal.
** The instructors have no kids themselves, and don't know how difficult parenting is, or what children actually need (for example, they expect mothers to cure illnesses, injuries and mental trauma with nothing but their love). They think they know about mothering just because they have dogs and
** Susanna puts Harriet on a low-carb diet without consulting a pediatrician first, making her dangerously thin. Eventually, though, she gets professional advice, and Harriet's weight returns to normal.
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* KnowNothingKnowItAll: The instructors have no kids themselves, and don't know how difficult parenting is, or what children actually need (for example, they expect mothers to cure illnesses, injuries and mental trauma with nothing but their love). They think they know about mothering just because they have dogs and nephews.
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* StrugglingSingleMother: Frida is expected to care for Harriet on her own with zero support network, a boss who wants her to prioritise work above everything else, demanding parents, and a distant ex with a wife who gives preachy unsolicited advice. On top of all this, she has to deal with depression and insomnia.
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* StrugglingSingleMother: Frida is expected to care for Harriet on her own with zero support network, a boss who wants her to prioritise work above everything else, demanding parents, and a distant ex with a wife girlfriend who gives preachy unsolicited advice. On top of all this, she has to deal with depression and insomnia.
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* StrugglingSingleMother: Frida is expected to care for Harriet on her own with zero support network, a boss who wants her to prioritise work above everything else, demanding parents, and a distant ex with a wife who gives preachy unsolicited advice. On top of all this, she has to deal with depression and insomnia.
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* MortonsFork: Frida notes that the school is teaching women to be stay-at-home mothers, and that they need partners to earn the money. But since they're also taught they mustn't want partners, there's no way they can win.
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* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The standards are so impossibly high that mothers are doomed to fail, both inside and outside of the school. The reason Frida's "very bad day" happened in the first place was because she was so utterly burned out from the expectations heaped upon her.
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* WouldHurtAChild: While this is only true of some of the mothers, it's glaringly true of the instructors. Despite claiming to have children's best interests in mind, they tear families apart by restricting phone contact, and [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman routinely abuse the dolls]].
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Your Cheating Heart is a redirect to an index, not a trope.
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* YourCheatingHeart: While Frida was pregnant, she found out Gust was having an affair with Susanna, a younger, prettier and more sexually experimental woman. Frida tried to salvage the marriage, but he left anyway. Nobody calls him selfish or a bad father for this, and Frida thinks it's her fault for having boundaries in the bedroom.
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* YourCheatingHeart: While Frida was pregnant, she found out Gust was having an affair with Susanna, a younger, prettier and more sexually experimental woman. Frida tried to salvage the marriage, but he left anyway. Nobody calls him selfish or a bad father for this, and Frida thinks it's her fault for having boundaries in the bedroom.
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* NeverMyFault: Social workers stress Harriet out while monitoring Frida's interactions with her. Naturally, Frida gets the blame for Harriet's resulting tantrums.
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Redirecting a portion of deleted example of Not Too Black
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* EthnicMenialLabor: When the mothers are assigned to "cleaning detail" Black and Latina mothers are more likely than White mothers to be assigned to clean bathrooms, the dirtier work.
