Analysis Of Motherhood Myth

The character Connie in Joyce Carol Oates short story “Where Are Going, Where Have You Been?” has a lot of issues. The problems Connie has with her social life, family, and the people that she talks to come to control her future which anticipates the development of her character, this correlating to her unfortunate death. The Bob Dylan song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” perfectly describes her situation which was the inspiration for Oates 's story. In 'Where Are You Going Where Have You Been ' music is a big influence on Connie and Friend specifically rock ‘n ' roll music. Throughout this story, there are plenty of references to music becoming a lifestyle and characters mimicking their favorite artists ' clothing trends. The revolution

Motherhood who needs it? Is it women, men, society or everyone in general who needs motherhood? In “Motherhood: who needs it?” Betsy Rollin argues that people are having children for all the wrong reasons. Instead of having them because they want to they have them because they feel that it is expected upon them as a woman. Rollins does not agree with this and argues that the “Motherhood Myth” is to blame for this.

The argument over a woman’s right to choose over the life of an unborn baby has been a prevalent issue in America for many years. As a birth control activist, Margaret Sanger is recognized for her devotion to the pro-choice side of the debate as she has worked to provide sex education and legalize birth control. As part of her pro-choice movement, Sanger delivered a speech at the Sixth International Neo-Malthusian and Birth Control Conference in March of 1925. This speech is called “The Children’s Era,” in which she explains how she wants the twentieth century to become the “century of the child.”

Rosalind Hursthouse in her paper Virtue Theory and Abortion, handles with the moral standpoint of abortion from a virtue ethics perspective. Her research is directed towards investigating whether or not an abortion is something a virtuous person would do. Hursthouse examines the morally relevant considerations and in so doing, she rejects the standard questions used to determine the morality of an abortion such as the status of the fetus, and the rights of a women. The morally relevant considerations she sees fit to assess the moral legitimacy of an abortion are concerns with family relationship, personal circumstance, and basic biological facts. Through her considerations, Hurthouses account of virtue ethics gives us adequate moral advice in regards to the question of abortion.

In 1916 overpopulation was a growing issue. Many children were coming into the world unintentionally and unwanted. Margaret Sanger believed that all women should have the ability to choose if and when they wanted to become mothers by giving them access to birth control. Sanger’s family had 11 children and she worked as a nurse. Sanger worked in New York City slums with poor families and mothers constantly giving birth to unwanted children. Sanger had been arrested many times for speaking out about her research and ideas on birth control; most of what Sanger was promoting was illegal, it wasn’t until the 1920’s that she began to work with the law. Sanger opened the first legal American Birth Control League in 1921, which later became what is now known at Planned Parenthood. Sanger spent years after sharing her research with the rest of the world and opening numerous clinics. Sanger delivered the speech The Children’s Era on March 30, 1925 in New York. The speech was given to a group of people attending the Sixth International Neo-Malthusian and Birth Control Conference, a conference on the topics of birth control and population control. In front of an audience that praised and disagreed with her ideas, Sanger spoke using many rhetorical devices to guarantee a spark to the senses of every audience member listening. Too many babies wasn’t just a problem for mothers, but for the whole world. Sanger approached the ideas of overpopulation, abortions, women 's choice, and the

In March of 1925, Margaret Sanger delivered the outcome of overpopulation and a lack of birth control options(“Margaret Sanger’s “The Children’s Era” Analysis”). She discussed the so-called “Children’s Era”, which desired countless happy and healthy children all around the world, as a key part missing from our ideal future. Children brought up in poor circumstances are nearly doomed to have a bright future; these babies are jinxed before leaving the womb. Therefore, a child can only be healthy and successful if it is raised in a similar environment. In order to prevent the babies who are ill-prepared for or unexpected, birth control is necessary. Margaret Sanger chose to make a difference. Margaret Sanger chose to promote birth control.

The nature of womanhood, or what we perceive as the inherent proclivities that govern only those born as a woman, is often the base argument for the unequal treatment of the female sex. Women are weak, natural-born mothers, unfit to do much else beyond simple household chores and rearing children. This portrait of women seems almost comical in its antiquity; however, we cannot disregard the past, as it shapes the present. The question of the nature of womanhood is rarely allowed nuance, which is a shame, because womanhood can be many, often contradictory things. Instead, the traits we often associate with womanhood stem from society’s projection of what women should be, not necessarily what they are. English novelist Marian Evans Lewes exists counter to 1800’s European beliefs of womanhood. Instead of adhering to society’s standards, she adopts the pen name of a man and becomes a successful author, avoiding judgement for her work based solely on her gender. In her letter to Melusina Fay Peirce, however,

Leta S. Hollingworth was an American psychologist who focused most of her research on giftedness, educational psychology, psychology of women, and the variability hypothesis. She conducted numerous studies to reject the variability hypothesis that deemed women for destined for mediocrity and did her dissertation on how women were not mentally incapacitated during menstruation (Held, 2010). Hollingworth wrote six articles on the social factors that contributed to the social status of women. (1) One being “Social Devices for Impelling Women to Bear and Rear Children,” this article focused on the eight social constructs that motivated and pressured women to have and raise children. Of the eight, seven were first proposed by E. A. Ross in his book

Proponents of a women’s right to choose when to child bear include Margaret Sanger. Margaret Sanger, better known for her involvement in organizations that evolved into what is now know as Planned Parenthood Federation of America, argues in, “Free Motherhood,” that accessibility to birth control and the decision in child bearing allows women to foster a better generation, that allows for the advancement of society. She elaborates on her claims and paints an image of what she envisions a world with access to birth control would be like by writing, “…or she my, by controlling birth, lift motherhood to the plane of a voluntary, intelligent function, and remake the world” (Doc 118) Sanger reasons that by allowing women to decide when to child bear, it automatically creates a pool of mothers who are more willing to raise quality children, rather than rear kids by the dozens who do not promote societal values. To further women’s rights activists’ demands, Sanger explains the relationship between birth control and freedom. Sanger does this by writing, “She gains food and clothing and shelter, at least, without submitting to the charity of her companion, but the earning of her own living does not give her the development of her inner sex

“We are, as a sex, infinitely superior to men, and if we were free and developed, healthy in body and mind, as we should be under natural conditions, our motherhood would be our glory. That function gives women such wisdom and power as no male can possess.”– Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Rose Mary Walls, Jeannette’s mother, clearly showed signs of under parenting when Jeannette writes, “Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you’re young is good for you” (Walls 28). Rose Mary Walls is notorious for only caring about herself. The fact that she believes making her children suffer is the most effective way to help them improve strengthen the argument that she is under parenting. While it is good to let babies take one step at a time, throwing them in situations without any guidance and expecting them to succeed is a poor parenting style. Because of parents like Rose Mary, the idea of being trained to raise a child has become a topic of conversation. Bobbi Leder, an opinion editor, spoke her thoughts in her article, “Should People Be Required to Obtain A License Before Becoming Parents,” where she addresses what is required and expected out of parenthood. She advocates that “children deserve the best and if you’re not prepared to give (the most important job) your all, then leave it to those who are” (Leder 3). As an American society, it is natural to want children to have the best opportunity they can. To provide these opportunities, it is important to consider one question before having a child: are you ready to take on a huge responsibility? Also, understanding what the role of a parent is,

The sexualization of women in the media is often overlooked in today’s world; as a result of frequency and the normalization it has received from the beginning. Although sexist ideology against women originates from an extremely young age, the perspective of women being sexually active for intentions that are not linked to reproduction is still viewed as being taboo. The twentieth century allowed women to have a yet another source of empowerment with the creation of a revolutionary oral contraceptive that would become a turning point in American medicine and life. This option created a decrease in the amount of teen pregnancies, thus allowing women to further their education which in turn, lowers the wage

“Prejudice is a chain, it can hold you. If you prejudice, you can't move, you keep prejudice for years. Never get nowhere with that.”- Bob Marley. There are two people who would agree with this quote, and those people would be Grace Hsiang and Brent Staples, who have both experienced prejudice firsthand. Hsiang, the author of “FOBs vs. Twinkies”, tells of her experiences with intraracial discrimination between the Asian race. Staples, the author of “Black Men and Public Spaces”, tells of the experiences he's had as a black man with prejudice from whites. In these articles, the authors show similarities of discrimination, however, these articles highlight differences using diction and tone.

Bond, Cynthia. “Language, Speech, and Difference in Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God- New Edition. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2008. 41-55. Print. Bond analyzes the language spoken throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God as appropriate and crucial to understanding Afro- American literature. Hurston’s language emphasizes the cultural tradition within the South. Not only does Hurston demonstrate black oral tradition, but she also utilizes southern dialect to critique a male dominated society. Hurston uses literary references, such as the pear tree to scrutinize her awakening self-love. These illustrations that occur on notable occasions

Some philosophers hold that having children is impermissible under any circumstances, call this view global anti-natalism. Among these philosophers, David Benatar (2006) introduces a famous asymmetry argument on individuals’ evaluation of pain, pleasure, absence of pain and absence of pleasure (30-31). Based on this argument, Benatar believes, “Being brought into existence is not a benefit but always a harm” (28); thus global anti-natalism (i.e. it is always wrong to have children). Although I agree with Benatar’s asymmetry argument and admit that one is always seriously harmed because of her existence, I argue that the global anti-natalist conclusion does not follow. In order to do this, I will first present Benatar’s asymmetry argument. Then, I will show how a global anti-natalist conclusion fails to follow from his argument. I will next consider the particular reason that justifies procreation. Finally, I will respond to possible objections to my arguments.