Myth Of Motherhood

Toni Morrison sees black females as victims of violence in all relationships. The focus now is on the sad plight of black girls being maltreated and sexually exploited at home. It is natural to expect that the female children will be spared such violent experiences even when their grown-up sisters are subjected to the severest affliction.
Cushioning the adverse effects of racism is usually undertaken within the family network. But if the child is abused within her own home, it becomes almost impossible for her to disclose it to the outside world. The majority of black children hardly ever feel secure or happy in the nuclear families. In fact, the very people who are entrusted to protect and safeguard the children are often seen to bring about

Much later, Adrienne Rich distinguishes between the institution of motherhood, that is, what women are programmed to expect out of motherhood and their actual experience. She makes a very crucial statement when she asserts that the experience of maternity and the experience of sexuality have both been channelled to serve male interests. “Institutionalized motherhood demands of women maternal instinct rather than intelligence, selflessness rather than self-realization, relation to others rather than the creation of self”

Though she feels guilty about beating her children, she cannot help beating them again. So she tries to justify herself: “perhaps it was having no money or may be it was Cholly,” but they “sure worried the life out of me” (124). Her children’s daily needs become lighted matches to the fuse of her disappointment as a black woman denied beauty and romantic love. Wade- Gayles says, “the notion of motherhood as a sacred calling lived out in Sistine tranquility is a rhetorical lie in Pauline’s culture” (72). Morrison destroys the stereotypical image of the strong, loving black mother through