Femininity: The Social Construction Of Maternity

Family is the first institution in the history of man. It is also a fundamental unit of human society. Its foundation rests upon man’s biological and psychological needs. In the modern age, many functions of the family have shifted to other institutions but nevertheless, there are many biological and psychological needs which man cannot satiate without a family. Psychologists have proved that the absence of family affection has a serious impact upon the child’s development. Other passions can be satisfied even outside the family but it can never be the man cannot live without a family. Psychologically family members typically experience intense emotional interdependence. Economic activities are also deeply imbedded in our society. A multitude

Women bodies, sexualities and gender identities are sites where cultural notions of normality and indeed social respectability are contested. The constructions of female sexuality and motherhood are discursive sites in which power fluctuates constantly and is appropriated and negotiated. The discourses surrounding motherhood and women’s sexuality remain deeply engaged with patriarchal- dominant economic and political interest. Maternity is both a site of power for women, as well as a site of patriarchal control and regulation of female sexuality and agency. In a traditional framework there is no space for a woman as an individual, she must be a wife and a mother. Women are forced to conceal silently their bodies and sexuality under the monitoring of family and society. The primary reason is that sex is the culture source of problems and crisis. Control of female sexuality is legitimized even effectively mystified under the name of tradition. Female sexuality presented in alleviated terms by glorification of

They deal with the middle class Indian woman who represents the overwhelming majority of Indian women and is struggling to adjust in it rather than get free from the traditional world. They have written of Indian women, their conflicts and predicaments against the background of contemporary India. They have analyzed the socio-cultural modes and values that have given Indian women their image and role towards themselves and the society. Their chief contribution consists of their exploring moral and psychic dilemmas and repercussions of their women characters along with their efforts to cope with the challenges. They evolve the threads of their plots from the restlessness and tension of a married