Empowered Mothering Is A Type Of Feminist Mothering In

The fight against sexism is not a new fight. Women have been fighting for equal rights, as well as fighting for their lives, culture, and values to be just as important as men's. On August 18, 1920, women were granted the right to vote; but this was only the beginning. From then to now, the role of women in society has significantly changed due to women standing up for their rights at protests and rallies, as well as on social media. While “The Good Wife’s Guide” focused on the promotion of the traditional gender role of women and defined appropriate emotions for women, “The Revolt of ‘Mother,’” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, represents the start of the resistance of the traditional gender role of women that we see in society today.

1.) Overall main topic of this book connects between the issue of motherhood and feminism. One major key point I found while reading this book is the author, Amber Kinser explains the growth and progress of the role of mothers in the american society meaning how the roles have changed overtime. A major theme of Kinser’s book is that the public debates may focus on mothering, but the issues affect us all.  Cutting back on health care for women, on education, and on jobs for teachers, social workers and others in the service sector have their greatest impact on mothers, but they affect all of us. Motherhood becomes a symbol for how men and women, single and married, gay and straight, deal with the need for individual options and the need to act for the good of others.

The feminist movement has been trying to change the idea of traditional sex roles and stereotypes in society for decades, but maybe the issue relies on society instead of biological differences. While these biological differences and research show that there are small differences in cognitive brain activity between the sexes, they also propose a theory that this “is the way it’s supposed to be” (Pollitt 2549). Although these differences exist it does not mean that sexes should have permanently assigned roles in society. Katha Pollitt, a feminist author and high profile activist wrote the essay “Why Don’t Boys Play With Dolls,” published in 1995 in The New York Times Magazine. In the essay, she argues that “biological determinism may reassure some adults about their present, but it is feminism, the ideology of flexible and converging sex roles, that fits our children’s future” (2549). Pollitt raises important ethical problems in her essay, gender roles and stereotyping. Throughout her essay she provides several claims to her argument and builds credibility with her audience by using rhetorical strategies. However, the argument also exhibits some minor flaws, which could in return limit its persuasiveness. This analysis will identify Pollitt’s three main claims and the evidence she uses to support them. I argue that overall Pollitt provides an effective argument by building her credibility and expanding her audience with the use of rhetorical strategies, such as ethos, pathos,

In “Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls,” Pollitt writes about the differences between growing up as a boy growing up as a girl. She brings up the stereotypes that society naturally creates between genders in early ages, which leads to the lifestyle and path that boys and girls are raised in. Parents and feminist alike play a big part in establishing these sex roles. They raise their kids wanting them to be successful at what they are expected to be good at based on their gender and the trend that has been set before them.

Women have been alienated from their rights as workers and citizens but also have been deprived from fulfilling their roles as wives and mothers because they don’t have political representation. The concept of militant motherhood explains that because women have been alienated from almost all their rights their will to thrive as mothers has motivated them to demand the equal rights they deserve. Therefore women united their collective identities as wives and mothers and demanded the political representation they deserved as citizens (Richard Stahler-Sholk et al, 145). This concept operates within women’s social movements because since they all share one collective identity regardless of what they are demanding they are all interconnected by

As I developed my own sense of feminism through pop culture and literature, I detached more and more from my mother’s sexism. Because she was prone to rage outbursts and volatile tempers, I learned to escape through another medium, like books or music, so a lot of what she said didn’t stick. While I was aware that her behavior was toxic, I didn’t realize how dangerous it truly was until this

In the beginning of this article, Andrew Reiner described his experience with having a son. He stated, “I was faced with one of my biggest fears about parenthood: having a son” (Reiner, 2016, para. 6). Reiner elaborated on the growing trend of parents wanting female children instead of males. The article mentioned that adoptive parents are even willing to pay an average of $16,000 more in finalization cost for a girl instead of a boy (Reiner, 2016, para. 10). Reiner also noted that the boys-will-be-boys behavior does not originate with them (Reiner, 2016, para. 12). Instead, it is a product of their environment. He cited “... parents tend to touch infant boys less often and more roughly than infant daughters and that daughters are handled more gently and protectively… (Reiner, 2016, para. 12)” This displayed how societal norms shape behavior attributes that can be seen as non advantageous. Towards the end of the article, Reiner emphasized that we should empower our daughters and empower our sons with the same emotional literacy skill set and expansive worldview we teach our daughter (Reiner, 2016, para. 18). He finished the article with a short anecdote about how his son only wanted his attention and that is why he was acting out.

In her interviews with woman she was sure to interview very well educated women and those that strived for mere perfection. One thing is that the men in the lives of these women were not supportive and not mentioned of much. The men and society of today have placed a lot of responsibility on a woman’s shoulders when it comes to the child. It is the woman who makes the decision or is given the task to make the heavy decisions regarding the child’s future. Because of this many women choose to stay at home to be sure that the children will receive everything that they deserve and that they are not lacking in any area. Another issue that she reviews is that employers do not work with moms at all. For example she talked about the scenario where two moms brought a solution to their problem to management yet it failed to receive approval instead one mother was offered more money (Guest, 2011). Employers are not very flexible when it comes to mothers and don’t provide the proper care that is needed for a child. Since men are the ones that don’t carry the responsibility of the child’s well-being having proper day care is not a factor for them. Then there is the cost of day care which is high and can at times not compare to what the individual is making.

Since the dawn of American culture, women have been oppressed. Due to inequalities in the hierarchy of social power, women have been targeted for discrimination. However, women have not sat quietly and let the “man” dictate their lives. Through movement raised through women of all cultures, change has come to all American women. Racism, homophobia and classism created hardships for the American women who rebled through reproductive justice organizations, anarcho-syndicalism, and embracement of their sexual orientation. These helped efforts created the foundation that we live in today and continues to inspire and mold the environment .

Finally, the author examines how gender personality shapes a woman’s mothering capacities, and thus reproduces the cycle of mothering. The different structures of the oedipal triangle (binary for men, triangular for women) contribute to the formation of gender identity in children. The psychoanalytic object choice also ensures that the heterosexual relationship will result in women mothering and taking on the role of primary caretaker, leading to an asymmetrical organization of parenthood where men are mainly absent or removed. However, male-dominant households ensure that women will remain unfulfilled in the relationship, leading to a desire for a child, and rearing this child in a socially gendered family. In this manner, due to women’s nurturing role and their narcissistic attachment to their daughters, they contribute to the perpetuation of “their own social roles and position in the hierarchy of gender”.

The article titled, "I'm Here, but I'm There": The Meanings of Latina Transnational Motherhood by Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Ernestine Avila, discusses how Transnational Motherhood is reconstructing the ideology of what it mean to be a mother. Due to financial necessity mothers from Central America and Mexico are moving to the United States for jobs. They are not trying to reside in the United States permanently. Their ultimate goal is to make enough until for their children and families to be stable financially before heading back home. I find this research interesting because these women have set aside the emotional aspect of mothering that relies on physical affection and care and focused being the primary financial provider their

Since children, girls are always told to act a certain way and which behaviors are appropriate or “lady-like.” Even as little girls, we have a lot of expectations set on us and the way we should handle things. We grow up with skinny Barbie dolls with makeup, baby dolls and kitchen playsets to play mom. We love to argue that women oppression isn’t a thing nowadays, so why it is the women still have to fight for basic equality and rights? As a Mexican women I stand for the Chicana Feminist movement because I believe I have to go through a “double-struggle” being a woman and Mexican as well.

In today’s society, there is often a misconception among women and men and the roles they are expected to follow through with. Although there has been advances in the way women are treated, it is unfortunately still an unbalanced dynamic in our society. From an early age, women are often persuaded, even if subconsciously, to follow a certain pathway in life. They are most often associated with staying home, keeping the house clean, cooking, baking, and raising children. Certain mediums that girls are exposed to tend to sway them towards these specific wants and aspirations. The way in which certain products are presented to little girls create an image they feel like they need to master. Men, on the other hand, are taught something completely different. They are regularly habituated with more masculine and self-reliant tasks. From an early age, they are automatically seen as people that deserve to be educated and use their smart, resourceful assets to contribute to society. They are without a doubt going to get a job and become a father and husband that provides for his family. In most situations, even if the woman has a job, men are the main “bread-winner.” Going along with this belief, the products boys are often marketed portray the idea of strength and independence. Whether it is a toy or a book, men are more often than not characterized as the heroic, more capable gender. There are many cases in which different mediums exhibit the ideas of men being the superior

Gloria Jean Watkins, known by her pen name Bell Hooks (the name of her great grandmother), was born September 25, 1952. She grew up to be the author of more than three dozen books, the topics of which range from gender, race, and class, to spirituality, and contemporary media. Hooks attended Stanford University, The University of Wisconsin, and The University of California, Santa Cruz, eventually earning her P.h.D. In her article, “Understanding Patriarchy,” Hooks argues that patriarchy isn’t only harmful to women, it’s harmful to men as well, in different ways. Patriarchy sets rigid gender roles that say women are to be docile, obedient, and nurturing, while men should be violent, dominating, and aggressive. This ideal greatly emotionally stunts men, and makes it so that they cannot express themselves in any way other than aggression. In this article, Hooks was very effective in explaining and giving examples as to why the patriarchy negatively affects both men and women, and that it is up to both to break free from these constraints and work together to end the patriarchy.

To return for a moment to "Snow White," the fact that women are presented so often as the oppressors of other women (or girls) is an essential aspect of fairytales, for it is an essential aspect of any patriarchal culture. One of the great questions for contemporary feminist scholars has always been, if women do not want to live in a sexist world, then why do they not raise their sons differently? Given that women are in almost all cases the primary caretakers of both sons and daughters, surely a determined generation of mothers could raise up an entire generation of sons who would behave very differently than their fathers had done in terms of treating