Get Inspired, Be Empowered Forums Sexism & Patriarchy The glorification of motherhood.

7 replies, 7 voices Last updated by 038 deepika Singh 2 years ago
  • Woospire
    Keymaster
    @admin
    #33060
    Semantee Chattopadhyay
    Participant
    @semantee03
    #33071
    Helpful
    Up
    0
    Down
    Not Helpful
    ::

    In addition to the unavoidable challenges of motherhood meaning in men also struggle with unnecessary pain because of unrealistic expectations. Women hap of unexpressed feelings of guilt, shame, conflict, inadequacy in regards to motherhood. Feeling guilty about child care, conflict about working, feeling responsible for adult children’s choices, wondering if you are a good enough mother and if you are messing up your kids. If we could travel back in time a few hundred years we might see families working together in agrarian communities. Children were producers in family life working beside their parents for their survival. Motherhood and fatherhood for integrated into everyday life centre on work. The social change in the mid-1800s treated what is referred to as the cult of domesticity. In this world, few women or at least upper and middle-class women were believed to be so pure and morally superior to men that their lives were best lived in the private sphere creating a sanctuary at home for husband and children. The motherboard was put on a pedestal. Women’s natures very narrowly defined and an idealized view of motherboard emerged.
    Recently during the high wave of covid 19 in India, someone tweeted a picture of a woman cooking while wearing a nebulizer attached to the oxygen support. The picture was titled “unconditional love, mother- she’s never off duty.” This rightfully triggered a heated debate online. Like other physically and emotionally demanding vocations, this one too placed on a pedestal, even as the mother was herself to the bone. So that extolling maternal love we soften the blow of the labour of motherhood. But interestingly our cultures sing paeans to mothers, but they don’t lend support to their roles. Where is the social, emotional, physical, support infrastructure? It took much backlash for the government of India to realise that the child care leave of the central government was so sexiest because only women employees put off for child care. So we epitomize motherhood and mothers because it conflicts this distinction between one’s naturally assigned identity, which is as the birth giver, and the socially assigned persona as the caregiver. This helps convince women that caregiving is their highest moral duty. While caring and sacrificing for another thing makes us human, and beautiful, and these need to be cultivated, but not when they are expected exclusively from one gender in the service of the other.

    Yash Tiwari
    Participant
    @yash
    #33094
    Helpful
    Up
    0
    Down
    Not Helpful
    ::

    The glorification of the mother begins with the child. The child, with his or her limited capacity to understand life and all its complexities, grows up seeing the mother as a strong figure in every sense and thus becomes incapable of defending himself or herself from any possible threat in life. The more he or she is protected by his or her mother, the more fearful he or she becomes in front of everything else. This then creates an isolated identity for him or her. Such a glorification of motherhood can be seen as a way of further subjugating women without any need for laws. Indeed, as in India, in the past, it was not possible to legislate the social status of women lower than that prescribed in the texts, because those were divine and perfect. But now that religious texts have started becoming questioned even in India, what becomes all the more important is to prevent such ‘glorification’ from taking place through popular narratives.

    To be a mother, a woman is supposed to forget her individuality, and identify completely with her role as a mother. At the same time, she is expected to excel in that role. In other words, she has no identity apart from her role as a mother. This is not a very new idea. From ‘yes, dear’ to ‘I put my career on hold’, we have heard it all. We know how oppressive the patriarchy can be. The patriarchy has made it impossible for women to be anything other than mothers-in-law, wives, and daughters-in-law. But what society also ignores is that this glorification of motherhood also puts pressure on the mother to be the best mother she can be. And being the best mother is as much about suffering as being a whole human being, loving someone other than your child.

    Being a mother is a socially constructed phenomenon. It is not a biological fact, not something that women are powerless to change in any society, and not anything essential to the female identity. Motherhood is a complex social construct, that historically, has been associated with ideas of sacrifice, nurturance, purity, and wholesomeness. Loving motherhood and glorifying it with all its emotional guilt has become a recurrent theme for capitalist societies. A mother is supposed to love her offspring endlessly and without end, even at the cost of her life because the interests of the offspring become paramount, superseding even the basic needs of the parent.

    No matter how much an individual chases their dreams and desires, the societal view remains. Being a just okay mother for some is what counts as a supermom. Sacrifice and suppression have been deemed necessary for mothers to be good mothers. Institutionalizing the gendered qualities of motherhood not only portrays women as naturally maternal but also provides channels to distinguish their behavior from men in socialization. This is so pervasive that it has been associated with positive attributes for the same. Women who are being glorified as mothers are treated with much adoration and respect but along with these comes a stigma attached to their identities along the lines of being there to raise children, manage homes, serve the husband and take care of his or her parents after marriage.

    Manpreet Singh
    Participant
    @manpreet
    #33096
    Helpful
    Up
    0
    Down
    Not Helpful
    ::

    Indian civilization, without a doubt, is a patriarchal society, which always popularises stories celebrating motherhood and strengthens the mother’s values, the sacrificial and holy image of a woman whose identity fades away into that of a mother, wife, daughter, and so forth. Maternity and pictures celebrating the motherhood status are abundant from the self-sacrificing mother of mythological times up to the motherly tags we are giving women as an honorary emblem today. As is the case with the rest of the globe, maternity is a cultural phenomenon used for the purposes of capitalism by the media and the commoditized social reality. Motherhood images were employed for the construction of nations and as part of global political agendas. It is everywhere institutionalized and gender is the norm. Motherhood perceptions focus on commitment, compassion, caring, and, of course, tremendous sacrifice. Frameworks and expectations for women to fit snugly are truly established.
    The “coveted” maternity imposed social consequences provoke reactions of all forms within our society, which are designed to reverse the progressive nature of several initiatives aimed at creating a better society for women in India. When it comes to motherhood, women’s choices are always being questioned. Women who are married and children less, and who desire to become a mother, are another kind of women who suffer because of their maternal myth. The worse sort of suffering in infertility treatments is this category of women. They abuse their bodies and receive hormone therapies that alter their disposition and suffer significant physical and emotional harassment. Often this glorification of motherhood in representations of popular culture confirms the social ostracism facing women who cannot imagine themselves. Can we thus be a little more sensitive to the cultural and political subtleties in current society which characterizes motherhood? We may be able not just for women but for all gender groups to establish a more inclusive society.

    PALAK KASHIV
    Participant
    @palak
    #33175
    Helpful
    Up
    0
    Down
    Not Helpful
    ::

    A woman enters into a new phase of her life by giving a birth to little baby her motherhood glorification began. Once the mother is being she can never leave her motherhood journey it is an important commitment of her life. A mother is always responsible for her children and she always wants to give her best for the children, a child always looks up to her mother’s behavior when he/she. mother is always the safe place for children. Mother is always a selfless person when it comes to their child, she is ready to do anything for her child also to make her smile that is what we call glorification of motherhood. patriarchy always tells women to keep her career on hold and look after the children because they want your presence at the home. Even some husbands also tell that but what if women want both career and child at the same time why we have to choose between because both play a valuable role in her life. But I am so proud of mothers who are managing careers and children well. So, it is possible to even in the future children are going to do the same with their children. Women should motherhood perceptions need to change it is not that motherhood is not perfect. A mother can ask the father to take care of the child and needs the to mother gives unconditional love. Being the best a mother. Mother needs to give her child good teaching and make her own. All mother needs to be respected and also take care.

    DISHA SAPKALE
    Participant
    @42disha
    #33177
    Helpful
    Up
    0
    Down
    Not Helpful
    ::

    Motherhood is consider as very beautiful thing that every women want to be. Being a mother is not easy it comes up with lots of responsibility and sacrifices. In our society female fertility is consider glorify but female with infertility is consider as worthless because in the family women status is still determined by seeing whether she has children or not. Many tv shows, movies, advertisements shows that women happiness is only by having motherhood. There are women who don’t want to baby due to which society start Judging, stereotypes and considering her selfish. After giving birth to child mother has to sacrifice their career to take care of their child. Because society has the mindset that mother should stay home and take responsibility of child otherwise their children will suffer. But both mother and father should take responsibility of their child, so that mother will able to follow her career goals. Than also there are many working women who manage household chores, family with office work that’s what about mother glorification that society should must see. Mother’s who work with no holiday than also there are people who don’t respect her and start saying her what you does all the day. This kind of people should be in mother place for a day than people will get to know about motherhood. Mother has to suffer with lots of things after having a child they has to suffer with their mental health, physical health, financial independence. Mother’s are the one who keeps everyone first and thinks of herself at last. She will do anything for her child to make smile on her child’s face. Mother’s should be respected and glorify because the pain from which mother goes through while giving birth to child from her body is miracle and glorifying. Society need to glorify motherhood and understand her.

    Aditi Sahu
    Participant
    @aditi
    #34309
    Helpful
    Up
    0
    Down
    Not Helpful
    ::

    While motherhood is definitely a beautiful thing and should be something glorified in itself, the society has used it as a tool to degrade women who don’t choose that path in their lives. The society has made the mistake of equating womanhood with motherhood, while being a mother can be major part of a woman’s life, it’s not a benchmark of womanhood. You’ll find a lot of people saying that women who choose to not be mothers are incomplete, and that is a very ignorant mindset. First of all, not every woman is biologically capable of being a mother, and secondly, even if she is, motherhood is a huge responsibility and it should be an individual’s choice whether she wants that in her life or not. The society needs to stop putting the burden on women to prove their womanhood by giving birth to children. Motherhood and parenting in general are extremely difficult processes and they should be an individual’s informed choice rather than a burden.

    038 deepika Singh
    Participant
    @038-deepika
    #34590
    Helpful
    Up
    1
    Down
    Not Helpful
    ::

    Mothers deserves to be glorified but the problem arises when this glorification effects those who do not choose to be a mother or someone who struggles with the new role of motherhood. I have a lot of admiration and awe for the amount of work it takes for a woman to raise her children. The physical, emotional and mental strength and mettle that go towards conceiving a child, being pregnant, and then living through the sleepless nights, growing pains, etc. But our society demands a woman to become a mother as soon as she gets married and sacrifice herself for her child. And if she resists, the criticism what she has to face is horrifying. Due to the over glorification of motherhood, when some women struggle with the new role of motherhood, then they have to face the criticisms, shame, and hatred for not being good enough. I firmly believe that a woman should be capable enough of taking decisions relating to her body, whether it is related to having a child or aborting it. But so is not the case in our country. Once a woman gets married, she is dwelled with the constant pressure of having kids. Childless married women are often ridiculed with comments like ‘how can you not want to have kids’, ‘why are you being so selfish?’, ‘think about your future’. Glorifying motherhood is good, over glorification is not. Motherhood is wonderful for those who choose it.

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.