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Motherhood And Motherhood

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CHAPTER TWO

MOTHERHOOD – A FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE Dated : (13.08.2015)
MOTHERHOOD – A FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE To be able to comprehend the journey that the feminist liberation movement has undertaken, ever since it came into existence, a brief overview of the feminist movement is imperative. It is also important to understand why motherhood is an important issue for the feminists and the impact of motherhood on womanhood. It is only then that a clear picture of the issues related to motherhood and their role in fostering gender - dichotomy can be studied. In order to understand the twin related issues - womanhood and motherhood and the role of the feminist movement. This chapter has been divided into two parts. The first part deals with …show more content…

She supported the belief that motherhood in itself was not derogatory or damaging. But when women do not acquire proper formal education, because of then duty as mother or wives then they suffer from loss of self-esteem and dignity.
Wollstonecraft states that women should not sacrifice themselves at the altar of motherhood. Wollstonecraft says, “To be a mother a woman must have sense, and that independence of mind which few woman possess, who are taught to depend entirely on their husbands. Such wives are foolish mothers”(106). Therefore she wants cherry woman to lift herself from the state of degradatish to which they have been reduced and empower to which they have been reduced and empower themselves so that they can empower themselves and their children to lead fulfilling lives.
The liberationists of the 1980’s and 1990’s also regarded motherhood and mothering as sheer wastage of powerful feminist energy, in the home and the household which they viewed as an area of “ arrested social development.” (Mitchell and Oakley …show more content…

She citer her own experience to expose the patriarchal glorification of motherhood, she does not agree mother the concept that “woman’s highest and holiest mission is motherhood” (Of Woman; 42). Rich refers to motherhood as on the one hand a social institution, where all mothers are under social compulsion to adhere to their social status as ‘mother; which has been set for them in accordance with patriarchal values; and on the other hand, it is a crucial emotional experience as natural and spontaneous instant with which they can topple patriarchal definition of feminity (151). The institution of motherhood, generally in all social setups marginalizes the experience of motherhood it seems ; because most of the times, it is believed that, women are excluded from decision making regarding the various issues of pregnancy like, the sex (as to whether or not to go in for sex-determination), number of children and the time , as to when to plan a

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