There was a halfhearted attempt to remind that this figure doesn't have to be the mother:
"By contrast, children of unresponsive or insensitive caregivers form insecure attachment. They become anxious and easily distressed by the smallest sign of separation from their attachment figure... Finally, children with abusive caregivers become disorganised: they switch between avoidant and anxious coping, engage in odd behaviours and, like Cora, often self-harm."
So this is an implicit acknowledgement that the gender of that early caregiver matters less than that they are nurturing.
But I agree, the article is remiss in explicitly making mention that the gender of the early caregiver does not matter - especially given that the other half of the article is devoted to a male-female relationship (Cora and her therapist) which clearly contradicts the assumption that this needs to be a mother-child.
Personally, I would have loved to see mention that even those with one stable caregiver can still develop issues when the other caregiver is not stable, or worse: that the other caregiver does not care. That often results in a person forming good relationships with their friends, but having a different (worse) standard of conduct towards their romantic partner - e.g. a child who sees their same-gendered parent [physically or verbally] abused, and once an adult, enters into an abusive relationship because that is what is normal to them in regards to the "other" gender.
"By contrast, children of unresponsive or insensitive caregivers form insecure attachment. They become anxious and easily distressed by the smallest sign of separation from their attachment figure... Finally, children with abusive caregivers become disorganised: they switch between avoidant and anxious coping, engage in odd behaviours and, like Cora, often self-harm."
So this is an implicit acknowledgement that the gender of that early caregiver matters less than that they are nurturing.
But I agree, the article is remiss in explicitly making mention that the gender of the early caregiver does not matter - especially given that the other half of the article is devoted to a male-female relationship (Cora and her therapist) which clearly contradicts the assumption that this needs to be a mother-child.
Personally, I would have loved to see mention that even those with one stable caregiver can still develop issues when the other caregiver is not stable, or worse: that the other caregiver does not care. That often results in a person forming good relationships with their friends, but having a different (worse) standard of conduct towards their romantic partner - e.g. a child who sees their same-gendered parent [physically or verbally] abused, and once an adult, enters into an abusive relationship because that is what is normal to them in regards to the "other" gender.