I agree with you that mothers can say and do just as threatening things for their sons. I think the difference is that the damage done manifests itself in different ways for men and women. I just read an excerpt of Hollis' Middle Passages on Amazon and one example he used was with Ernest Hemingway and his mother.
I also think that mrsCAC4 wrote that "it's hard to imagine". She did not say that mothers could not be threatening to sons as much as she did not imagine how. I know it's nitpicking but I think that it is helpful to write what you are thinking. So my assumption wasn't that you disagreed that it might be hard for her to imagine but rather that mothers can inflict damage on their sons.
But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads? ~Albert Camus
