Motherhood in itself is natural and does not subordinate women. It is only the unequal expectations of motherhood and fatherhood that create an imbalance of power towards men. When Maria writes of her daughters conception she says, “the greatest sacrificing of my principles in my whole life, was the allowing of my husband again to be familiar with my person… and I the unutterable pleasure of being a mother.” (Wollstonecraft 86). The very conception of her child and of Maria becoming a mother begins with the greatest sacrifice of Maria’s life and it is
Her jubilation over the death of her father is the indication of her freedom from the social norms, of determination to not live at the dictates of the patriarchy. She is happy so far she was living the life of “care free existence of a single women”, with the disposition of “an arid feminism” (Lessing 35). In his essay, “Panopticism”, Foucoult has explained the inevitability of power- determined to discipline the society. One thing we should keep in mind is that the power, Foucoult is talking about, is gendered in nature; it has more adverse effects on women as compared to men. According to Foucoult the mechanism of surveillance is inevitable and spread throughout the society.
Because of some statistics about women 's work, Hekker views her work as unique work which needs special care. However, the author mentions that people view her as an outsider, shamed, and out-of-date person because of her occupation. Hekker adds that other newer statistics put her hope down as the number of housewife mother is decreasing. Thus, the author clarifies that she must be treated as an important and unique creature because she is going to be one of the few housewives. Hekker concludes by mentioning that being a housewife is a heroic job if and only if the works that a housewife does is for children, husband, and house of someone else.
Celie’s lack of a strong mother figure is a significant part of why she doesn’t develop independence in her early life, so strong mother figures such as Sofia, Shug Avery, Mary Agnes, Nettie, and even Albert’s sister Kate are crucial to her personal progress later on. It is these “surrogate mothers” that push Celie to understand how she truly deserves to be treated, and they also teach her how to fully live her life, thus resuming her development of ideas such as “separation, autonomy, and identity formation”(Proudfit 23). One especially important surrogate mother for Celie is her daughter-in-law, Sofia. Sofia comes from a family in which she does have several strong female presences surrounding her at all times, and that helps her to develop independence and a strong character of her own. This allows Sofia to stand as an example of female power for Celie.
Social structure conditions one’s thinking. A person becomes that, under which circumstances he or she lives. We see that two real sisters- Sona and Rupa, born in the same house, are totally different in their thinking after their marriage. It is result of the atmosphere of their new families One considers a working woman as emancipated individual, while for the other it is shame. One protests, “Times are different now” while the other defends by saying that “We are traditional people.
A critical reading of this book reveals feminist ideologies in the society in general. It condemns the patriarchy system in the male dominated world and they speak for women’s rights. A voyage of rediscovery for Akhila which explores the female phase. Akhila 's family members conveniently looked at her as a man in lady 's attire as it suited their needs to have a money making machine with absolutely no encumbrances. Sad that even a mother fails to take note of the fact that her eldest daughter who had sacrificed for the welfare of her siblings needed to have a life of her own.
Devi belongs to a traditional Hindu Brahmin family that believes that marriage is the ultimate goal of a woman’s life. Devi exhibits enough control compromising with her individuality agreeing for an arranged marriage. The narrative also takes us to, Devi’s childhood, Devi’s grandmother’s house where the seeds of such a conflict were sown. It was here that Devi learns the rules of being a good girl. She does not pursue a career after her graduation from USA.
“Women as children are able to identify with their mothers quite strongly” (Panja 61). Then a stage comes when in her attempt to assert her identity, the daughter breaks away from the mother and feels alienated. However, when the same daughter, after being an experienced self, looks back at the past of her mother, she realizes what it is to be a mother in a patriarchal society. In this way, again an identification and understanding takes place between the daughter and the mother. In this regard, Asha Choubey’s observation is worth quoting: As a child she [Virmati] keeps craving for a little understanding from her mother but with the passing of time she learns to accept the situation as it is.
It also has religious and cultural ethos of Indian culture. Mother figure is essential and is used for ideological purposes. For this again two types of images are produced. One is of ever forgiving and caring mother, shown in the movie the Mother India, presents a lone woman who brings out her sons in hostile circumstances. She embodies the roles of mother, spiritual qualities of self-sacrifice, devotion and religiosity, with whom most of the female audiences attach themselves to and the careless step mother, who always tries to hurt her husband and her step children.
She wants individuality and freedom, feels suffocated and unhappy in the husband centre world and takes divorce from Som. Thus she rebels against the conventional security of marriage as she yearns for free communication of ideas with her husband beyond the glandular sensations of sex. In this respect she was an awakened woman of the modern age who shows the courage of mind after the divorce and it was tradition in her that makes her feel that by taking divorce she had offended something old and ordained. “A part of her would always be married to Som.”(220) Simirt could never went away from the old tradition and customs of her own country like modern women. The sacred institution of marriage had also come under the impact of modernism.