Childlessness And Ethnology

Motherhood was an expected part of the wife’s life. Woman would have a large number of babies right after each other although some babies would not survive. “High mortality rates must have overshadowed the experience of motherhood in ways difficult to

Social pressure often comes from parents when planning to have children in the near future. One 's mother, mother-in-law, father, or father-in-law might say they want grandchildren as soon as possible, in a joking matter; the problem is that they are not joking. In cultures that value family and children, the social pressure to having a baby can be rather overwhelming . The pressure is most

childbrearing. The term “fragile families” may be referred to in this paper, which can be

Seeks Pity for Teenage Mothers and Abstinent Couples,” is that the woman’s inability to be decisive in whether or not she will assume the role of motherhood is symbolic of slavery. Furthermore, Sanger maintains that denying women the freedom of choice essentially impedes their constitutional rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These assertions are substantiated through a series of letters that are written to Sanger by mothers who are overwhelmed with anguish and dismay due to their prominent rate of unplanned pregnancies and the complications that ensue as a result. The common thread indicated in all of the letters is the pursuit of relief in the form of prevention. The series of correspondences also addresses the invariable plight of poverty, illness, fear, physiological defects, sexual servitude, and the lack of social enterprise, which all seem to be exacerbated by the immense number of unplanned pregnancies. Sanger subscribes to the belief that the woman’s right to control her body is the foundation of her human rights; and the freedom of choice is the stimulus to safer, healthier and happier lives. One writer discloses her struggle to efficiently care for her eight children on her husband’s minimal income of $1.oo per day. Her failure to adequately nurture her eight children and ensure their normal development is created by her inability to work outside of the home to

The article is structured in three parts: “Oedipal Asymmetries and Heterosexual Knots”; “The Cycle Completed: Mothers and Children”; and “Gender Personality and Reproduction of Mothering”.

The modern world is in the midst of reconstructing gender roles; debates about contraception, reproductive freedom, and female inequality are contentious and common. The majority now challenges the long established assertion that women’s bodies are the eminent domain of patriarchal control. In the past, a woman’s inability to control her reproductive choices could come with ruinous consequences. Proponents of patriarchal control argue against reproductive independence with rhetoric from religious texts and with anecdotes of ‘better days,’ when women were subservient. Often, literature about childbearing fails to acknowledge the possibility of women being uninterested in fulfilling the role of motherhood.

Rather, Rachels opposes both the idea parenthood as well as accusing parents of their misjudgments.(Rachels, 572) This shows the awareness that Rachels has in objectively challenging the current stance that couples must have a child together. Altogether, Rachels has provided a strong paper that initially seems very convincing, but when taking a deeper look, one finds that there are several flaws in his argument.

In Meredith Small’s article Our Babies, Ourselves she focuses on people’s social and psychological development through examining the different cultural aspects of raising a child. During this process she compares the American perspective of treating babies, to those of the Gusii and the Dutch. Throughout her examination many points are made that I believe can give the reader’s a valuable understanding of the impact of different means of parenthood on a child’s future development.

Reading descriptions in medical texts, Martin wondered how male-oriented views from textbooks matched so cohesively with those of the interviewees. After some research, Martin realized the thought process of woman during labor matched the text book definitions due the definitions men witnessed during childbirth and illustrated in text books and woman culturally internalized and learned through ideology as a description of contractions vs. giving birth.

Many further studies into the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy and parenthood, such as Moffitt’s 2002 “Teen-aged mothers in contemporary Britain” conclude that “young mothers encountered more socio-economic deprivation, had significantly less human and social capital, and experienced more mental health difficulties. Their partners were less reliable and supportive, both economically and emotionally, and were more antisocial and abusive” (Moffitt, 2002). This perpetuates the idea that having children does not alleviate poverty or the conditions of it in any way, and in fact shifts the responsibility on to the individual by implying that these women don’t have the motivation to aspire towards more, and delay pregnancy for that reason. What studies such as this one does is that it ignores the idea that pregnancy can actually be used effectively

Michel Foucault was a French philosopher and one of the most influential social theorists of the second half of the twentieth century. He was born on the 15th of October 1936 and passed away on the 25th June 1984. His theories addressed the relationship between power and knowledge, and how they are used as a form of social control. His analysis breaks the concept of power apart, and his theory explains differences in various modes of power. In his study the History of Sexuality, he explores in the firth volume called Right of Death and Power over Life the triangle of power: (I) sovereign power; (II) disciplinary power; and (III) biopower. In this essay I will describe the relationship between each power and apply the concept of biopower to China’s one child Policy.

There is much debate on what constitutes as a family today. However, Ball (2002) states, “The concept of the traditional family…is not an immutable one. It is a social construct that varies from culture to culture and, over time, the definition changes within a culture” (pp. 68). There is a growing diversity of families today including the commonality of sole-parenting. In order to explore aspects of sole-parenthood objectively, I need to reflect and put aside my personal experience of growing up in sole-parent household. Furthermore, this essay will explore the historical origins, cultural aspects discussing the influences and implications of gender identity, and social structures of sole-parent families, as well as consider the

Laws are legislated and enforced for the mere purpose of protecting all individuals in a society by stating what is and what is not acceptable behavior. Though it is impossible for these legislative decisions to please every single individual in a society, these governs are passed in morality of the thousands of elected parties in charge. Commercial surrogacy is a current complex issue that evokes strong moralistic response. Commercial surrogacy takes away the childbearing element in the reproductive period for individuals looking to have or extend a family. It has opened the doors for many who cannot bear children of their own though this behavior has also raised many concerns about the appropriate scope of the market. This “method for acquiring children” is more commonly objected because the children and women’s reproductive ability are being treated as a commodity. Summed up through Elizabeth S. Anderson’s article, “Is Women’s Labor a Commodity?” children are buyer durables and women are baby factories (Anderson 82). Anderson communicates commercial surrogacy children as commodities stating how this “market” that these children are born into expresses attitude that endorses market norms as opposed to ‘norms of parental love”(Anderson 76). Anderson focuses her paper towards the manipulation, alienation, and exploitation of women that commodifies women’s reproductive capacities. Through Anderson’s argument and her perceptive relations of this market to alienation,

Girls, young women, and mature mothers. Society has consistently given women strict guidelines, rules and principles on how to be an appropriate member of a man’s society. These rules are set at a young age and enforced thoroughly into adulthood. When not followed accordingly, women often times too many face reprimanding through means of verbal abuse, physical abuse, or social exile. In the midst of all these strict guidelines and social etiquette for girls, a social rebellion started among girls and women and gender roles were broken, however the social rebellion did not and does not affect all girls and women. For instance, in less socially developed places, young girls on the brink of womanhood are still strongly persuaded to be a man’s idea of a “woman”.

Social institutions like Birthright support teenage pregnant women when their families and the rest of society refuses to. While traveling on the bus on my way to school, an advertisement called "Birthright" that was lending support to lonely pregnant women, caught my attention. I was captivated by the words that read, “are you scared?” These words drew me towards choosing this advertisement because it implied that teenage pregnant women are scared of being alone with nobody to rely on for support. With these ideas in mind, I then posed the question: “are teenage pregnant women relying on social institutions for support rather than their own families and society, because of their violation of societal norms?” Emile Durkheim’s perspective on